Habeus Corpus
by Arroyo Rose Cawston
Summary: If his Majesty and his Knight are dead, surely there must be bodies.
1. Exeunt

Disclaimer: This fanfic includes lines paraphrased or directly taken from the _Code Geass_ and _Code Geass R2_ series.

**Turn 1: The Final Curtain**

"Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero!"

The crowd was swarming around the float. Nunnally held her brother's body close and stared out at the sea of people. There was no way she could get him past them by herself. Everybody's relief at the prisoners' release was fading; the suppressed wrath of the masses was coming to a boil. The Britannian guards had already been ripped to pieces by the throng. Soon, the people's wrath would descend upon the thin body in her arms.

Images of her brother amidst hurled trash, of tearing hands, of spit and desecration raced through her mind. Please, she thought, let me keep him now that he's dead. Impossible. The sufferings of populace required payback.

Nunnally looked desperately up at Zero who was looking down inscrutably from the high platform.

He flourished with his arm, showing that he was about to speak. The crowd fell silent.

"People of Japan. People of the World. I rejoice with you. Here, now ends the reign of Lelouch vi Britannia, the enemy of us all. Here lies the Demon Emperor who invited his doom on the Path of Blood and Evil.

'In this moment, we stand united. From this place, from this time, we must move forward on the Path of Peace. When we look back, let us remember. Everyone among us has lost someone: father, mother, child, friend, love. We must all remember, so that we never again embark on the road of destruction. We must not let the deaths and sacrifices be in vain."

Zero walked down to the lower platform. Nunnally gasped, clutching her brother's body protectively.

"Nunnally vi Britannia, I, too, am sad for your brother. He should have been a better man, but here lie dashed all hopes that he could ever be anything greater than what he had become. Let us go and bury him. We must put him to rest with the hatred and vengeance that his schemes provoked. Then you, I and everybody will be free to join each other in building a gentler world.

'General Tohdoh, Kallen, Ohgi, Orange, Schneizel el Britannia, Cornelia li Britannia. I require your assistance. Will you please carry him upon your shoulders so that the world can see the conclusion of our despair? Tomorrow, we shall move forward into a future filled with hope."

The somber personages stepped forward. More quietly, Zero said to them. "There are a Knightmare, an ambulance and a limousine at the other end of the square. Nunnally will ride with the body in the ambulance to Ashford Academy. I request that you all please come with us in the limo. I will bring up the rear in the Knightmare."

Jeremiah Gottwald and Schneizel el Britannia took the dead emperor's head and shoulders, Kallen Kouzuki and General Tohdoh supported his middle, and Kaname Ohgi and Cornelia li Britannia carried his legs and feet. Zero held Nunnally in his arms at the front of the procession. The party walked off the stage, and the crowd parted before their heroes and dignitaries.

Years later, all eight of them still swore that Lelouch vi Britannia had died on that historic day.

**Turn 2: Ghost Light**

The door of the ambulance shut. Nunnally sat with the body. The driver started the engine. The van began to move.

Nunnally sighed and leaned back against the wall of the van. She looked across at her brother, who had the look of a person who had fallen asleep. She, too, wanted to shut her eyes, to have some respite from the chaos of this particular day. Momentarily, she envied Lelouch who looked so restful. Stop, that's morbid, she thought, Besides, I could have died today, myself.

Suddenly, Lelouch sat up. Nunnally stared at him – and screamed. Her brother yawned and rubbed his eyes. "You – you!" she stammered pointing her finger at her brother. "You can't, you're supposed to be—"

Lelouch looked at her with a wistful, exasperated expression. "Dead? Mortally injured? Sorry, you knew perfectly well that I survived. I heard you gasp when you realized--"

"I thought I'd imagined it," Nunnally croaked weakly.

Lelouch shook his head.

"But," Nunnally sputtered. "I felt you die. I saw –" Lelouch nodded and smiled patiently. "I saw the light leave your eyes. I felt your heart stop beating. You stopped breathing! I don't understand. He killed you. How can you still be alive?"

"I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you ahead of time," said Lelouch. "I wasn't absolutely sure whether this would happen or not. All the possible contingencies had to be covered."

"Contingencies?" Nunnally cried. "Like maybe you'd stay dead?"

"Yes," Lelouch answered. "I've always believed that the only ones who should fire are those who are prepared to be fired upon."

Nunnally was at a loss for words. Lelouch sighed; he hadn't thought that she would be so shrill. On the other hand, he did recently put her through a holocaust, two months of imprisonment, near-execution, an assassination and a resurrection. He felt a pang of guilt for having tried her constitution. Perhaps, it was the prison time that had hardened her. No, it was he.

"That's not funny, Brother," said Nunnally when she found her voice again.

"No, it's not," agreed Lelouch. "I apologize."

Nunnally stared at him and wondered how he could be there talking to her at this time. "It's your Geass, isn't it? That's how you're here."

"Well, not exactly. But essentially, yes," said Lelouch.

Geass, again? thought Nunnally. That vile twisted power that corrupted people's willpower, that made them disappear as their empty shells committed whatever abomination her brother had wished on them. "So what are you going to do, Brother? Make me forget that I saw you here?"

"That power is gone," said Lelouch with his head bowed. "I very recently swapped it for longevity."

The gulf between them widened. "I see," said Nunnally. Lelouch would now exist in an entirely different plane than she. On the other hand, since when was he ever on the level with her about anything? Even as children, she had the sense that he hid reality from her. The distance between them would now only be clearly pronounced rather than lurking.

She testily inquired, "So, you're back from the dead. Is Suzaku alive then, too?"

"That does not follow," replied Lelouch.

"There's no need to talk down to me," his sister rebuked him. "As you were –dying – when I touched your hand -- I saw things – the agreement that you two made. I know."

"Then you also know that Suzaku is alive only in a manner of speaking," said Lelouch.

"Yes, you killed him in more ways than one," Nunnally agreed. "And then, you buried him behind that mask forever."

"It was mercy," Lelouch disagreed. "I only gave him what he wanted. We are both dead men."

There was a silence as Nunnally mulled over what her brother had said. Only an hour ago, she had believed that she had lost him for good. And now, here he was – alive and none the worse for wear – breaking her heart once more. "Then, you mean to tell me," she said tentatively, "that this is 'Good-bye' again? You're leaving me -- again? Forever?"

Lelouch nodded.

"Brother, how could you? The only wish I ever had was for us to be together."

Lelouch took his sister's hand. "No matter what happens, I will always watch over you. But for the sake of the world, for you, I need to stay dead. If I come back, everybody's hatreds will be resurrected. The world and I can no longer co-exist, so the world and I must learn to make do without each other."

Nunnally looked away, her free hand balled into a fist. What about her? She had never asked to make do without Lelouch. She had never asked to sacrifice her happiness for his schemes – however great the ends. She had never asked for the horrors that he had committed in her name. If only he could have let her world be as it was….

"I can't bear to have a future without you. I don't want a future without you."

"You are much stronger than I thought you were," Lelouch replied. "You will find your own way."

"Alone." The tears ran down her face once more. "You'll die again for me when you leave, Lelouch. You've become even crueler than I thought you were."

Her brother sighed heavily with regret. "And to think that only a short while ago, you said you loved me."

"Yes, unfortunately, I still do and always will."

Lelouch kissed his sister's cheek. "Nunnally, I love you, too."

**Turn 3: Ghost Light Encore, the Other Car**

In the wake of victory there is vulnerability. Now was a bad time to be letting down one's guard. If a stranger tells you to get into a car, Cornelia recalled, there's a fairly good chance that it won't be going anywhere good.

She eyed her companions. They were sitting ducks in here. Anybody wanting to wipe out a substantial portion of the Britannian and the Black Knights leadership could do so just by bombing the car or shooting a machine gun into the car or releasing poison gas in the car or….

Don't be ridiculous, Cornelia told herself. If Zero wanted them dead, he could easily have let Lelouch execute General Tohdoh, Kallen Kouzuki, Kaname Ohgi, and Schneizel. It would have been less messy for Zero that way. On the other hand, he would have failed to rescue them, which would have tarnished his reputation as a man of miracles.

This Zero had been lucky and clever, she had thought as she carried her brother's body. The crowd never knew the first man behind the mask, so they revered Zero. To publicly disobey or question the iconic figure's instructions when he had just triumphed over the Demon Emperor would have incurred the suspicion and possibly the fury of the masses. Thus, a general, an ace pilot, the Black Knights' leader and three former nobles had all been coerced into a car where their host was absent.

Cornelia wondered why she, General Tohdoh, Kallen Kouzuki, Kaname Ohgi, Schneizel and Jeremiah been asked to carry the Demon Emperor's body away from the float. In the first place, Lelouch was not heavy. Jeremiah Gottwald alone could have taken care of it. Adding Cornelia and four confinement-atrophied ex-prisoners seemed to be overkill. Secondly, she had noticed that out of respect for the body-bearers, none of the crowd had moved to desecrate the body. She felt vexed that Zero wanted them to protect Lelouch's remains. If anybody deserved to be torn limb from limb, it was he. Was this respect inspired by some connection between the two Zeros? Was it some polite gesture to a defeated formidable adversary?

If that was the case, some diabolical, manipulative scheme remained in the realm of possibility. Would they be attacked so that Zero could come to the rescue? Or, would this Zero kill them, make up a justification and usurp the throne that he had just emptied?

But then, another notable incident on the same day would distract from Lelouch's assassination, spoil the theatrical spectacle of his death. It would be uncharacteristic of the Zero persona to ruin a good performance.

The questions all boiled down to two essentials: What was the character of this Zero? What were the plans of the man behind the mask?

A sniffling sound distracted Cornelia from her suspicions.

Kallen, who had maintained complete composure when they were carrying the body through the crowd, had begun to weep quietly. Cornelia li Britannia offered Kallen the box of tissues (which were mysteriously ready in the car) and put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Kallen accepted the tissues. "Sorry…. It's just…. I …." She firmly but politely brushed Cornelia's hand away. A real cry was coming on, shaking Kallen's shoulders.

Despite appearing to be in meditation or a nap, General Tohdoh clenched his teeth. Kaname Ohgi looked at the floor.

Cornelia remembered. The confrontation between the Black Knights and Lelouch. As Kallen escorted him to the firing squad, she had been talking to him in a most warm and happy tone of voice. Regardless of what he had done, she apparently still felt for him.

No one had understood when Cornelia wept for the Massacre Princess, yet she too had received condolences. It seemed fitting to pass the kindness to someone else, however, here was not the place to say, "I'm sorry for the loss of your Demon Emperor."

Fortunately, Schneizel came to the rescue. "You must be glad that it's all over," he said, referring to the wars, their captivity and their brush with death.

"Yes," said Kallen. " That must be it."

Kallen continued to tearfully gaze out the window. Cornelia decided against offering more consolation for the time being and folded her arms across her chest in resignation.

The limo ride continued. Cornelia was not the only one who had been brooding.

Ohgi had the feeling that everybody in the car knew something that he didn't know, except perhaps Cornelia who appeared to be in a huff. Kallen seemed unjustifiably sad at the death of the man who had used her and then consigned her to execution. General Tohdoh was either meditating or sleeping. Schneizel el Britannia, the political predator, remained suspiciously placid. As for Jeremiah Gottwald, surely his smug expression was not about satisfaction with Lelouch getting just desserts for the Orange incident.

They seemed far too calm and quiet given that the seat of a world leader, however tyrannical, had just been vacated and that there was a second edition masked vigilante in town, whose character had yet to be sufficiently differentiated from that of his two-faced predecessor.

And besides, did nobody notice that there was something creepy about the body of said two-faced predecessor?

"I could have sworn that I felt him move," Ohgi mentioned.

General Todoh opened his eyes and looked over at Ohgi. He replied evenly, "That sometimes happens with corpses."

"It's called postmortem spasm," volunteered Schneizel absently. He would know, of course; assassination and post-assassination gossip were Britannia family pastimes, even if he never cared for it himself.

Kallen blew her nose and dried her eyes. "There's no surviving a wound like that."

"Well…." said Jeremiah Gottwald.

"Oh, sorry," Kallen apologized. Mr. Gottwald had apparently suffered tremendous, excruciating physical wounds to obtain his cybernetic parts.

"Nevermind, it's alright," he said. "Besides, I can't imagine anyone wanting to bring him back. If he wasn't dead when we were carrying him, he'll surely be dead by the time we get to the Academy."

Cornelia was stunned. "Jeremiah, just an hour ago, you were working for him. Whatever happened to serving the royal family?"

"It was not all that it was cracked up to be," Jeremiah succinctly replied. "I'm glad he's dead." Clearly, Cornelia had touched a nerve of some sort. It sounded as if Lelouch had been so dreadful an employer that it was perfectly appropriate for Jeremiah to let Zero kill the son of a bitch, if only for the sake of spite.

"We're all better off without him," said Schneizel.

The occupants of the limo took a moment to contemplate that thought. Whether Lelouch was dead or not, he was neutralized for the time being. But with Lelouch out of the way, there was a matter of even greater concern.

"I wonder who's behind the mask," Ohgi spoke again.

"I'm sure that he will be revealed by his actions," said Schneizel.

"All he's done so far is kill Lelouch," Ohgi pointed out.

"A benevolent act," Schneizel surmised.

"Obviously, it seems to be to our benefit," said Cornelia, "but how do we know this Zero's true intentions?"

"For the time being, we can't. We will have to wait and see," answered Schneizel.

"But by the time that happens, it could be too late," Ohgi protested. "By the time you'd shown us the truth about the first Zero, he'd already caused the Princess Massacre, the Black Rebellion and the Second Battle for Tokyo."

"Even discovering a name and a face will not tell you what kind of person Zero is," Kallen quietly stated.

Ohgi was dumbfounded. "Kallen, what do you mean by that? If we had known from the very start that Lelouch was schoolboy using us as pieces in his game we'd have--"

"—never left the ghetto." she finished. "We would have had no hope and no future. General Tohdoh, here, would have been executed."

"How can you still defend him after all that we've been through, after all the lives that were lost?" Ohgi said with disgust.

"I'm not," said Kallen. "Lelouch was a manipulative and selfish tyrant brat, but sometimes, the ends don't match the means. Today, his reign of terror ended. His evil brought everybody together, and the result is that now we are ready to talk about peace."

"That's a little too tidy," Cornelia commented.

Kallen ignored Cornelia and continued on, "Besides, people are not always as they appear. True intentions are often hidden," said Kallen. "Think of Chigusa."

Ohgi frowned in agitation. True, nobody would have expected it: Chigusa had nearly killed him on two occasions, but now, they were gladly affianced. Even so, "That's different," Ohgi replied. "To her, I was never a pawn. Anyway, how would you know?"

Cornelia was astounded as well, "Are you seriously suggesting that Lelouch was some sort of saint in disguise, that he had himself killed?"

"I can't know if he planned it," Kallen replied. "As well as I thought that I knew him – I mean, I went to school with him, I fought under him, I thought he was my friend – but, every time I look back, I realize that I didn't know him at all. It's as if there wasn't ever a real Lelouch; he was always changing. Good, then evil. Evil, then good."

"What does this have to do with identifying the new Zero?" said Ohgi.

"Absolutely nothing, apparently," said Schneizel.

Cornelia decided to attempt another line of inquiry. "Orange," she said rather pointedly, "You let Zero pass, didn't you? Do you have any idea who he might be?"

"What of it?" answered Jeremiah Gottwald with some annoyance, "Regardless, this new Zero is one whose secrets I do not know."

"But if you let Zero pass, there must have been a plan between you two," Cornelia insisted.

Jeremiah Gottwald sighed. "I was contacted about a month ago. Ever since the incident with the U.F.N. it had seemed that his Majesty had gone mad. The less he was himself, the less I could justify my loyalty. Zero understood."

"Understanding…." Cornelia pondered. "I hope that the new Zero doesn't possess Geass."

"You forget," Gottwald gestured to his cybernetic eye, "that I have some immunity to Geass."

"That only proves that you acted of your own accord," said Cornelia. "It doesn't prove that the rest of us are safe."

"Then we should attempt to unmask him at the first opportunity!" Ohgi emphatically proposed. "All of this guessing about what Zero wants and whether he has Geass could be solved if we could just get find out who he is."

"That would be very foolish." General Tohdoh finally spoke up.

Ohgi and Cornelia stared at him as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head.

"I reached the same conclusion," said Schneizel. "What is your reasoning, General Todoh?"

"Assuming that the new Zero has Geass, if it is anything like the predecessor's, attempting to unmask him would almost guarantee that you would fall under his influence. You would succeed in removing the mask, in which case he would be able to make eye contact with you. Or you would fail, in which case he could cast a Geass upon you anyway. You could attempt to render him unconscious before unmasking him or you could bring protective eyewear, but you can't have missed during our brief acquaintance with him that this Zero possesses extreme physical prowess. If he can easily dodge bullets and leap over 15 foot walls, then he can just as easily snatch off your masks and goggles. Again, being put under a Geass falls within the realm of great likelihood."

"But assuming that the new Zero has no Geass?" said Schneizel.

"Then he is as ordinary as we are, however talented he may be." General Tohdoh finished the thought. "Of course, we still haven't established whether he has Geass or not. That remains to be determined, along with everything else we've discussed. It would be wise to test him to gauge how much we should trust him, but forcing him to reveal himself should be a last resort."

"Yes," Schneizel agreed. "If this Zero turns out to be the world's ally, we would do well not to alienate him. Indeed, unless he begins to behave suspiciously, an overzealous investigation of his identity might be an utter waste of resources and counterproductive to reconstruction."

"You are suggesting that we do nothing?" Cornelia balked incredulously.

"No," said Schneizel. "I am saying that we should very carefully watch and wait."

Thus the occupants of limousine entered into an unspoken pact: Lelouch vi Britannia, Demon Emperor was dead, and Zero's identity was a secret. None of them would say anything contrary to these truths.

One more question bothered Ohgi, however. "I wonder…. if this car is bugged, and Zero is listening inside that Knightmare frame as we speak."

"I would not be surprised if that were the case," said Schneizel. "It would be foolish of him otherwise."

**Turn 4: Stand-in**

Nunnally looked to the rear-view mirror where she saw parts of the faces of the ambulance driver and the paramedic. Strangely, the paramedic had been sitting next to the ambulance driver the entire time instead of in the back of the van. Both the driver and the paramedic had been looking straight ahead at the road this entire time; they hadn't even reacted when Nunnally screamed. Presumably, they had been Geassed.

"We're almost there," said Lelouch. "I need to prepare." He undid the fastenings on a storage cupboard by the gurney.

"A doll?" said Nunnally as Lelouch rolled the white-garbed mannequin out of the cupboard. It was taking him some effort to arrange it face-side up on the gurney.

"Yes." Lelouch affirmed. "It's anatomically correct and very much like the original. The blood inside it is mine. Some of the parts are real, thanks to the war and to extended family who happen to be genetically similar, and it has a stab wound that matches mine. The hard parts that aren't bone are made of plastic, so it will burn. At the moment, it's undergoing chemically simulated rigor mortis, and the blood is settling."

Nunnally shuddered.

"There must be a body, after all," Lelouch continued as he adjusted the mannequin's pose. "It should pass a cursory video-recorded inspection and autopsy."

"How?" Nunnally said with wonder.

"You'd be surprised by the handiwork of special effects artists and doll makers who have been toiling for three months straight with an unlimited budget. As for smaller irregularities, I'm sure that you can guess. There are only so many medical examiners remaining in Tokyo."

"Geass," Nunnally surmised. He must have erased the memories of countless craftsmen and toyed with all the minds of Tokyo's remaining doctors. She frowned at the distasteful thought. Lelouch was dirtying his hands to the very end; there was no changing him.

"How are you going to disappear?" she decided to inquire in a different vein.

"That's easy enough." Lelouch took an ambulance driver's uniform, a wig, a pair of glasses, a fake tattoo, some spirit gum, a moustache and a contact lenses case out from one of the cupboards. "The driver will go home 'sick' soon after we arrive, and I will conveniently have stepped in to take over his shift." Lelouch gestured to the long cupboard. "I'll need to stow away until everybody's gone though."

"What about the paramedic?" asked Nunnally.

"She's an old friend," said Lelouch.

Nunnally looked again to the rear-view mirror of the ambulance and noticed the faint odor of pizza coming from the passenger seat. So, that was what C.C. looked like, thought Nunnally. Then, it occurred to her that C.C., like Lelouch, was probably disguised somehow. "C.C.? You've been here all this time?"

"I'm just along for the ride, and the pizza," C.C. replied.

Nunnally watched as her brother began transforming himself into someone that she wouldn't recognize. One would think that I'd be used to his deception by now, she thought. "If only I didn't have to play along…." she muttered.

"If you didn't, people would think that you'd lost your mind or gotten hooked on Refrain," Lelouch told her. "After being defeated by your brother, imprisoned, and nearly executed on top of surviving the assassinations of two family members, I imagine people might be sympathetic to your wanting me to be alive and as I seemed in the good old days.'

Nunnally glared at him.

Lelouch continued, "Alternately, if people took you seriously, the gentle world that I've made for you and everybody else would come crashing down. If I return as Emperor, there will be rebellion, and there will be bloodshed as I will be obliged to defend myself without my old Geass. If I abdicate and return as a commoner, anybody who doesn't want to kill me again will want me as a tool to carry out his own agenda. And he would threaten you to keep me in line. This scenario does not bode well for world stability or you. It's for the best for everybody involved that I disappear."

Nunnally reproached him. "You have me trapped again."

"And for that, I am sorry," said Lelouch. The rear gates of Ashford Academy appeared. "We are going to arrive soon." He embraced Nunnally one last time. For a moment, he thought that Nunnally was not going to hug him back. Then to his surprise, she latched onto him so tightly that the embrace was like a death grip.

"I'm going to miss you, so much," she said, weeping again.

"And I, you," echoed Lelouch.

They parted, and Lelouch climbed into the cupboard. "Nunnally, I love you," he said before shutting the cupboard.

"Goodbye, Brother. I love you, too," said Nunnally. A thought occurred to her, "Wait! Can't you –"

The back door of the ambulance opened.

Keep in touch, somehow, thought Nunnally.

**Turn 5: Closing Night**

Account by Nunnally vi Britannia for the files of the Classified Documents Review Panel:

Although the cause of death was obvious, I gave my permission for a partial autopsy of my brother's body so that the specifics would be available for the historic record. Zero, General Tohdoh, Kallen Kouzuki, Kaname Ohgi, Jeremiah Gottwald, Schneizel el Britannia, Cornelia li Britannia, and I were all present to witness the autopsy – conducted by Dr. Eleanor Nakamura. The video recording of the autopsy is available to the public by request, but I prefer not to advertise that fact. According to the report, Brother died of a badly collapsed lung and a ruptured blood vessel just under his heart. Zero's sword had grazed it, and the vein burst as my brother was falling.

Zero, the closest of our old school friends and the people who had carried my brother's body waked him with me. They watched afterwards, when I had him cremated and his bones ground to dust. Zero and I scattered these ashes at Kururugi shrine where my brother and I had once been happy as children.

I wanted him to be at peace. He had such a difficult spirit.


	2. Raising the Dead

If she should not find out who Zero was, Cornelia decided, then she would devote her efforts to verifying who Zero was definitely not. Therefore, she assigned herself the task of testing a hypothesis that Zero was not Suzaku Kururugi – despite the flimsiness of the evidence to the contrary.

Suzaku Kururugi, declared deceased, had been among the few people known to have athletic capabilities similar to those demonstrated by the current Zero. He was also among the few people possessing athletic prowess and combat skill not in the execution lines or with Cornelia's rebel group. Furthermore, his corpse had never been seen in public.

Ostensibly, Suzaku Kururugi's funeral had proceeded with a closed casket to hide his grisly remains. But if he had faked his death, no one would have been surprised by the absence of his corpse. (Gino Weinberg's account of the Lancelot Albion's explosion was rather graphic.) Lelouch might have held the funeral for his knight without the body, just to show off the importance of the duo.

That Suzaku Kururugi could have faked his death and come back as Zero was far-fetched but plausible. Still, it remained far more likely that he had died and was staying dead as himself.

Why Suzaku Kururugi would take on the guise of Zero to kill Lelouch was an enigma. He had risen to power and wealth as the Knight of Zero by serving the Demon Emperor. Why would he destroy the source of these benefits?

Was it revenge for Euphie that Suzaku Kururugi would have sought? Becoming close to Lelouch placed Kururugi in a perfect position study his target. If Kururugi were motivated by revenge, then destroying his rapport with all who knew him, killing countless people and then hiding behind a mask for the rest of his life to escape war crime charges would have been an extraordinary price to pay. Would I have gone so far for my sister? Cornelia asked herself.

Or was it power, another of Suzaku Kururugi's old motives? Betrayal in exchange for power had been his modus operandi. He had (in the views of some) turned his back on his people by joining the Britannian army in hopes of changing Britannia; he had sold Lelouch to the Charles zi Britannia for a post as a Knight of Rounds; and he had offered to kill the Charles zi Britannia in exchange for becoming Knight of One. Then, he betrayed the world by becoming Lelouch's Knight of Zero. As Zero II who killed Lelouch, well, Kururugi would have become like a god adored and obeyed by all, if only for the time being.

Since Kaname Ohgi (interim Prime Minister of Japan) was also curious about Zero's identity, getting his support and assistance in testing her hypothesis had been relatively easy. He quickly to granted Cornelia permission, equipment, security and manpower to exhume his countryman in return for any information that she found regarding his grave's contents.

As for Schneizel and everybody else, Cornelia volunteered the pretext that she wished to take Kururugi's remains to the Britannian mainland to be buried next to Euphemia. Schneizel had been surprisingly blasé about digging up the deceased knight, though Nunnally appeared to have some apprehension toward the idea when it was mentioned to her. Luckily for Cornelia, Zero reassured Nunnally that Euphie would have wanted Suzaku beside her.

Despite his assistance, Cornelia found Zero's cooperation disconcerting. In the fortnight after Lelouch's assassination, he had been adopted into the emerging Establishment much too easily, she thought. While nobody else was making much effort to find out who he was, nobody was excluding him from the most sensitive discussions either.

His access to the thick of things was further assisted by Nunnally's inexplicable invitation to her brother's killer to reside with her. "I'll be able to keep an eye on him," she told Cornelia. However, Cornelia's offers of ordering extra surveillance equipment and security devices on Nunnally's behalf were soundly rejected.

"Whether you think he's suspicious or not, he's my guest," said Nunnally, "Keeping an eye on him is not the same thing as spying. What's more, that's no way to thank somebody when, if not for him, Lelouch would have had me shot."

Really! The nerve of that girl, thought Cornelia. At least Euphemia acted grateful when offered help. On the other hand, they had been nobility then, when Cornelia's rank could command her sister's submission and respect.

As the tractor shovel scooped out the earth around Kururugi's casket, Cornelia returned to wondering why Zero had supported her decision to exhume Suzaku Kururugi. Surely, this meant that he expected the grave to be occupied. Quite possibly, the grave contained exactly whom it was said to contain.

Or maybe, he was bluffing to discourage Cornelia from examining the grave and its contents. In that case, she was certainly calling his bluff.

She would have smiled at the thought if she weren't busy coughing due to the stench coming from the hole in the ground.

Cornelia had not been the first person to attempt removing Suzaku Kururugi's body, only the first with a permit and plenty of equipment and help. Several grave robbers had visited before she did. They had dug over twelve feet down to the casket where they found several obstacles:

1. The casket had been bolted and soldered shut.

2. It was impossible to hack through the casket with an ordinary ax or saw because it was lined with a thick layer of steel.

3. Surrounding the layer of steel was a layer of lead, which made the casket too heavy to lift out only with people and rope. If Cornelia had brought an x-ray machine to get a peak at the casket contents, it would also have been useless.

4. The casket had been cemented to a wide slab of concrete at the bottom of the grave, and that slab had not been visible in the broadcast of Kururugi's funeral.

Even with Cornelia's equipment, digging out the slab and un-gluing it from the casket, breaking the slab off the casket or removing the slab with the casket was going to take some time. Using a welder's torch or a diamond saw in the field to break the casket was out of the question. If there really were a body in there, accidentally cutting the sealed casket too deep would cause decomposition gases to explode upon contacting a flame or a spark. Besides, even if the casket leaked and was sufficiently degassed, Cornelia didn't want to risk burning or cutting the body, which would hinder its examination.

Much to Cornelia's disgust, any smell that could be coming from the casket was easily masked by the smell of garbage, spit, alcohol and excrement left by previous visitors to the gravesite. Since they had discovered that it would be impossible to desecrate the body of Suzaku the Traitor, they decided to make do with expressing their feelings toward his surroundings. When Cornelia and her digging crew showed up, they discovered to their collective revulsion that the grave robbers' hole in the ground had been filled with a mound of cheap liquor bottles, wet toilet paper, soiled underwear, used condoms, empty spray cans, a dead cat and a toilet seat – amongst several other unpleasant items. A swarm of enormous flies rose from the pile to greet the resurrection party.

"Princess, are you still sure that this is a good idea?" Guilford had asked. He was fortunate to see only an obscured vision of the mess through his dark glasses.

"It is even more reason to persevere," Cornelia had replied, despite the retching noise coming from one of the workers. "Euphemia would not have wanted this."

It took six Knightmares with combat-grade ropes to lift the foul casket and its concrete slab out of the ground and load it onto the back of a truck. The truck took the casket (trailing flies in its wake) to the Britannian military base just outside Tokyo where the recently underemployed Lloyd, Cecile and Nina could figure out how to take it apart. God help them, thought Cornelia.


	3. Limbo

After a month of inspecting the casket, the former weapons research scientists at the army base managed to open the casket without blowing themselves up or getting poisoned by noxious rot gases. Since Lloyd, Cecile and Nina had taken several (almost excessive) precautions against injury, they were somewhat disappointed to find that the casket was filled mostly with innocuous-looking packing peanuts and a block of concrete.

In consolation prize fashion, the concrete block turned out to be mildly interesting. Comparing the block's density with densities of other concrete blocks and testing its effect on sonic waves showed that it was hollow and that it contained an object of some sort. Further tests (combined with boredom) led to the conclusion that the block was unlikely to contain explosives or poison. Cracking open the block revealed a sturdy metal urn that had been soldered shut. The scientific team opened the urn to discover that it was filled with bone fragments and a thin dusting of ashes. Probably, whoever or whatever occupied Suzaku Kururugi's casket had been cremated in the Japanese manner.

Cornelia couldn't decide whether cremation was more or less in character for Suzaku Kururugi. He was Japanese but also an honorary Britannian. Would he have wanted to be treated according to the customs his ancestors or of his adopted people? Maybe the urn in the casket was a gauche attempt by Lelouch to combine the two.

The urn and its bones now sat re-sealed in a safe in Cornelia's temporary office at the army base. Her pet project with the urn's contents had come to a halt lately.

While Lloyd, Cecile and Nina had been busy uncovering what was in Suzaku Kururugi's casket and urn, Cornelia had been looking for a forensic specialist to identify the biological matter that eventually turned up.

She preferred to hire somebody in Britannia. Inspectors in the Chinese Federation and the European Union were options, but Cornelia felt that Britannian technology was superior and that Britannian resources were more plentiful.

Japanese inspectors were not under consideration. If the bones in the grave did not belong to Kururugi, Lelouch might have used his Geass on Japanese forensic specialists to obscure the discrepancy. Japanese forensic specialists were nearest to Suzaku Kururugi's grave, so Lelouch might have assumed that they would be the most likely candidates for inspecting it.

As for Britannian examiners, Britannia was so big that Lelouch could not have managed to track down and apply Geass to every candidate.

Cornelia had been unpleasantly surprised to find that demand (along with prices) for forensic services had skyrocketed lately as governing organizations and families were rushing to identify their dead. Lelouch's reign had produced a lot of cadavers and remains, not only from war but also purges, massacres and other violent incidents. In the months following his death, it had not been peculiar for visitors to the countryside to suddenly stumble upon a dead body or five or a few hundred.

Every public agency or private forensics firm that Cornelia consulted had a backlog of at least 4 months. To Cornelia's even greater frustration, since Schneizel (interim Prime Minister of Britannia) had decided not to reinstate the nobility, she could not pull rank to get at the front of the line. Cornelia was not a princess anymore, only a military officer among many other military officers seeking identification of the dead. While her status was still impressively high, she no longer had the same privileges as in the past.

Even if there were not a daunting number of samples that took priority over hers, there still would have been the issue of shipping her particular sample to Britannia. Cornelia had wanted to ship the bones in their urn so that the forensic inspector would have access to any relevant substances that might have stuck to the inside of the urn. Being made of metal, however, the urn was rather heavy. With security measures (necessary given people's loathing toward Suzaku Kururugi) and insurance (of the historically priceless urn,) via public mail, diplomatic courier or private delivery service, shipment would have cost a fortune that Cornelia could not afford to spend.

In recent weeks, Cornelia had come to grips with needing to be more disciplined in managing her finances. In the nobles' heyday, she had received an extravagant allowance along with her military salary. During her investigation of Geass and her resistance fighting against the Demon Emperor, however, her military pay had been stopped because she had not reported for duty. When Lelouch came to power and stripped the nobles of their positions, her allowance was also cut off. By the time the U.F.N. the Black Knights and Britannia reorganized enough to resume issuing checks after Lelouch's demise, Cornelia had already spent several months working without any pay.

The nobles' continued disenfranchisement did not help either. Cornelia agreed with Schneizel that the non-working nobility placed a wasteful burden on Britannia's government, but his expression of that belief was proving to be inconvenient. Even though Schneizel brought back the allowance payments, they were now in far more modest amounts, and they would end in five years. The more prudent among the former nobility would use their financial reprieve to train for life as working folk. The less prudent would be obliged to learn to do without. In considering the lot of previously idle nobles, Cornelia felt very grateful that she had an established career to fall back on, even if it did not afford her luxury.

Along with losing a huge chunk of her income, the former princess found to her dismay that the value of her assets had plummeted. In response to the loss of titles and privileges, many nobles panicked and sold off their holdings, heirlooms and extra properties. Consequently, the prices of stocks, antiquities, fine art, gold and homes hit rock bottom as supply exceeded demand. Selling off possessions at this time, Cornelia determined, would be financial suicide.

Though far from destitute, Cornelia li Britannia had to accept reality. She no longer had the kind of wealth that financed immediate gratification of personal curiosity, however intense. Identifying the bones in the urn would have to wait.


	4. Life Goes On

Author's Notes

Regarding the Timeline: I have taken the liberty of placing Tamaki's bistro about 2 years after Lelouch's death rather than immediately after Lelouch's death. Therefore, Villetta sitting at Tamaki's bistro would be having her second child rather than her first, probably about 3 years after Lelouch's death.

About Zero: This is not his scene, but we'll get there eventually.

* * * * *

Whoever claimed that peace was dull was a bona fide liar. When Cornelia li Britannia was not puzzling over the bones allegedly belonging to a particular historical figure, there was real work to be done. Since she had established contacts while fighting against Lelouch with the Japanese, Schneizel had asked her to remain in overseas, to assist the Black Knights and to strengthen post-Lelouch Britannia's relations with Japan and the U.F.N.

Although Cornelia liked the camaraderie that had developed between members of Black Knights and herself during the resistance in Japan, she soon found that dealing with the organization as a whole was an entirely different matter. Her first project as Schneizel's informal ambassador was the inventory.

General Tohdoh, Zero and Cornelia had all agreed with Kaguya Sumeragi that they should conduct an inventory of the equipment and personnel available to the U.F.N from Japanese resistance groups, Britannian army members left in Japan, the Black Knights and foreign resistance groups. As a good-faith demonstration of the peace agreement between Britannia and the U.F.N. the inspections would be carried out jointly.

The former two cohorts were relatively miniscule, so they were quickly assessed in a month.

Cornelia then ended up visiting, hosting and interviewing complete strangers from various overseas Black Knights branches and resistance groups for the next five months thereafter. They found her interest in them to be quaint and entertaining at best. Otherwise, a rather bothersome number of them found her involvement intrusive.

Despite Schneizel's plans for partitioning Britannia into culturally and geographically compatible entities and then joining the U.F.N. those plans were for the distant future. Therefore, some regarded Cornelia as an alien agent instead of an ally. Her involvement in assessing the U.F.N.'s military capabilities raised suspicions that she was really present as a spy or a saboteur rather than an envoy. Never mind that Zero had requested Cornelia's opinions on various essential topics and rewarded her resistance work with membership in the Black Knights.

Cornelia's earlier role as one of Britannia's most formidable soldiers, of course, was also a mark against her. Although Lelouch's reign had brought more death and destruction to the Areas than any of Cornelia's military campaigns, former enemies who had fought her remembered her well. They did not hate her exactly, not the way that everybody now reviled Lelouch. But it seemed most unlikely that she would ever be welcome amongst them.

Much to her surprise, she was greatly relieved when General Tohdoh finally declared the inventory complete because she could then go back to Japan – and stay there instead having to leave again three days later to inspect yet another outpost. In Cornelia's nostalgic recollection, her comrades in Japan understood and accepted her. For the most part, anyway.

Cornelia's return to Japan coincided with the birth of Villetta and Prime Minister Ohgi's baby. Given the blessing of Ohgi, Zero, General Tohdoh, and, of course, Villetta herself, Cornelia took on her next project of substituting for Villetta at the Veterans Assistance Bureau so that the mother could spend more time with her newborn.

The bureau had been growing at a breakneck pace, thanks to the enthusiasm and leadership of Shinichiro Tamaki who had finally realized his dream of being a bureaucrat. His penchant for talking too freely and committing to more projects than anybody could finish, though, left his co-directors, Nagisa Chiba, Villetta and now also Cornelia, scrambling to find materials and means for fulfilling the bureau's many promises.

It was some consolation that Tamaki had restrained himself just enough to limit his pledges to things that people truly could use. But nevertheless, the bureau had their work cut out for them.

Since the post-Lelouch disorganization was settling down, many fighters were being honorably discharged from duty. The return to civilian life meant that they needed help with finding jobs and housing. A large portion of these people had nowhere to go back to because Lelouch had killed their families, destroyed their homes or both.

For the wounded and the disabled, there were obvious immediate and ongoing needs for medical and therapeutic services including prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs, crutches, physical therapy and psychiatric care. Orphans needed access to basic necessities such as food, shelter and schooling, besides the little comforting extras such as toys, books and furnishings. In families where death had reduced the number of breadwinners and caretakers to one, baby-sitting services were necessary.

Besides the immediate requirements, Tamaki had added to the workload by prematurely leaking information about more long-term projects: the stipend being planned for the orphans and widows, discounted business loans and educational assistance. However grateful recipients were for the Veterans Assistance Bureau's help thus far, they could not resist being at least a little bit impatient to learn when these further developments would be implemented.

In addition to being swamped with requests for aid from veterans and their families, the Veterans Assistance Bureau was hectically exchanging information with organizations serving the general population. Since many civilians also needed the same services, the bureau became the focal point where information and resources were gathered, distributed and delivered.

Thus began Cornelia's twelve-hour days making phone calls, writing letters, drawing charts on large marker boards, training volunteers, hoisting boxes, delivering care kits, shaking hands, etc. The work was quite worthwhile, but part of her couldn't help but be grateful when she could go home to Gilbert G.P. Guilford at the end of the day.

Despite her brother's underhanded schemes, Cornelia regularly thanked her lucky stars that Schneizel had successfully gotten her to marry and live with her knight. Schneizel, with his uncanny ability to read people, must have known how much Cornelia would need her husband. If not for him tucking forgotten toiletries into her suitcase and making coffee in the morning, Cornelia might not have survived her new roles.

Their wedding had been the stuff that comedies are made of.

Shortly after Lelouch's cremation, Schneizel had decided to go home with most of the Britannian army for the sake of reestablishing order in the absence of the higher nobility killed at Pendragon. The day before his departure from Japan, Schneizel had called a private meeting with Cornelia and Guilford to inform them of certain unpleasant policy matters:

1. He had no intent to reinstate the royalty because the money formerly used to support them was now needed for post-war reconstruction and foreign aid diplomacy.

2. Because Cornelia was no longer a Princess, she was no longer entitled to a personal knight.

3. Guilford's ongoing need for medical care due to FLEIJA effects rendered his service more economical in Britannia than in Japan where the cost of living was relatively gargantuan to begin with.

4. Schneizel, as Britannia's executive leader and commander-in-chief, would call Guilford back to Britannia….

5. .… Unless Guilford and Cornelia got married. For the sake of morale, it was standard practice in the military to keep spouses stationed as close to each other as was feasible.

After taking an hour to get used to the idea (i.e. Cornelia sputtering furiously at Schneizel and Guilford registering shock until the pair realized that they did, in fact, belong together,) Cornelia and Guilford spent the next 23 hours frantically rounding up a marriage license, a Britannian military chaplain, witnesses and clothing for their wedding.

Thankfully, the tidiness of Lelouch's removal from power had allowed for businesses and local government offices to stay open. The resistance's former spies in the offices were rather amused by the gravity of their ex-colleagues' situation, and they gladly rushed the necessary documents through the pipeline with plenty of tittering and laughter.

While Guilford's formal military uniform was being speedily cleaned as well as altered to accommodate the weight that he'd lost after FLEIJA, he visited a jeweler to examine rings. Minami went along to make sure that the Britannian soldier's blindness would not be used to cheat him on the rings' quality. Thankfully, the nobility's panic sale over being dispossessed had made all jewelry fairly inexpensive.

Villetta and Cornelia dashed all over the remainder of the Tokyo metropolitan area searching for a dress and a pair of shoes. They settled on strappy white sandals with low heels, a plain, white shift of a summer dress and a sheer wrap with blue flowers at the corners. As a wedding gift, Villetta dragged Cornelia to a salon for a haircut and facial.

In the late afternoon the next day, the bride and groom met at the nearest municipal building left standing to sign their marriage license. After the ministrations of Villetta and the hairdresser, the bride had looked so different (even when slightly blurry) that the groom almost didn't recognize her except that she smelled right. Schneizel el Britannia, Kaname Ohgi and Kaguya Sumeragi witnessed the marriage.

The witnesses took the couple to Ashford Academy (temporary U.F.N. headquarters) where they were shocked to find a sizeable crowd of Black Knights, Britannian military and resistance members along with their dates, friends and families gathered on the lawn. Apparently, news of their engagement had traveled rapidly through the grape vine.

The chaplain conducted a quick ceremony before pronouncing Gilbert G.P. Guilford and Cornelia li Britannia man and wife.

So frantic were Guilford and Cornelia in the logistics of getting married that they had completely overlooked that they'd never dated, never mind kissed each other, before. As the groom nervously leaned forward, seriously praying that he wouldn't miss, Cornelia simply grabbed him in a panic and pulled him into a breathtaking lip-lock that earned the applause, cheers and admiration of all.

Schneizel then departed for Britannia while the newlyweds were swept away by their wedding guests to invade the nearest karaoke bar where the party participants of drinking age got drunk out of their minds and sang as many suggestive tunes as could be found on the play lists. Everybody, youngsters included, ate all the snacks available. Afterwards, the party disbanded and stumbled back to wherever they were staying.

Guilford and Cornelia tried to make their way back to the safe house where they had resided during the resistance. However, as both of them were a wee bit wobbly, and the groom couldn't see very well, getting home took some time. Along the route, Cornelia managed to start calling her husband by his given name rather than his surname. He, however, could not resist continuing to call his wife "Princess," so they compromised on having it be more of a pet name than a title. Just after dawn, they found the building, got in and staggered up to what had been Cornelia's room. The exhausted pair collapsed in a heap on her bed and fell asleep.

(Consummation of their union took place later, when they were not plastered or hung over.)

Thinking of her wedding made Cornelia smile. Only Schneizel could possibly have conceived of her doing anything so ridiculous yet so satisfying. Well, maybe Euphemia could have. She would have liked being at the wedding, too.

Gilbert had slipped into married life quite seamlessly as Cornelia's doting and responsible husband. With a large magnifying glass in hand, Gilbert paid the bills, hired cleaners, stocked their pantry and arranged romantic activities when he was not at his numerous medical appointments. Between these tasks, he helped various organizations with translating documents from Japanese to Britannian and vice versa.

Cornelia, on the other hand, was not at all pleased with how she was doing as Gilbert's wife. She, in contrast, had barely been home between their dates. Globetrotting on behalf of Schneizel and the U.F.N. and then working late nights at the Veterans Assistance Bureau kept her busy and away.

It was no longer odd that she would come home to find a fond note on the kitchen table, sushi or a sandwich in the fridge and her husband sound asleep. The circumstances were a far cry from her adult expectations of marriage, and an even farther thing from whatever girlish notions of romance she had ever entertained.

In a rare, less self-assured moment, Cornelia had asked her husband, "Gilbert, do you ever regret marrying me?"

To which he replied, "No, Princess. Where did that idea come from?"

"We're away from each other so much," she said. "It's not exactly most people's idea of domestic bliss."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder when you can look forward to meeting again," Gilbert answered. He added, "I wish you wouldn't be so tired when you come home, though."

"Hmm?" Cornelia felt mildly offended by that remark. Of course, she was often tired. If Gilbert were doing her job, he'd be exhausted, too. How dare he expect her to not be worn-out?

"What I mean is, I think a vacation would do you good."

"There's too much work to do," Cornelia responded peevishly.

"Even Knightmare frames need their energy replenished," he replied.

"Excuse me?" Cornelia scowled at being compared to a robot.

Her husband smiled at her. "But fortunately, you are Cornelia --" He kissed her. "—and you are invincible." Another kiss. "Edible, too."

"Since when, do you jest at my expense, Sir Knight?" Cornelia inquired in the haughtiest tone that she could manage.

"If my Princess dislikes her knight's attempt at humor, it is her right to punish him as she sees fit," Gilbert said mildly.

"Does this mean you'll be getting the dry cleaning?"

He frowned in disappointment. "Well, that wasn't what I meant, but if it makes you happy–"

"Oh, hush. You please me greatly already." Cornelia proceeded to have her way with him.

Gilbert did have a good point, however. She had not taken any substantial rests since Clovis died, and sooner or later it would show. The days were melting into each other already.

When Villetta's child turned one, she decided to come back to work and let the nursery workers at the bureau watch him. She took Cornelia out to lunch supposedly so that they could go over the details of returning the Veterans Assistance Bureau co-director job but mostly so that they could catch up with each other's news.

"You're lucky to be coming back now after the insanity," Cornelia told Villetta over the shabu shabu. "It's finally settling down."

"Yes, Kaname tells me that Tamaki's leaving to open some kind of a restaurant," said Villetta.

"So, that's why he was so keen on the business loan program…. Too bad, I'd be a little afraid to eat there considering how he's done at the bureau," Cornelia joked.

Villetta laughed. "I'm sure he'll do well. Minami and Sugiyama are going to help him out."

"But who will help them?" Cornelia appended.

"It won't be so terrible," Villetta replied. "You and Chiba did great working with him."

"Yes, well…. Thank goodness most of the protocols are in place now."

"So how's Guilford doing?" the former baroness inquired of the former princess.

"He's…. He reads Braille much faster now, but the doctors don't know what to do about the aches and pains he sometimes gets…. It makes me worry."

Villetta sighed sympathetically. "That's unfortunate."

"But otherwise, he's quite alright. In fact, he takes care of most of the chores."

"Really?" Villetta said with envy. "You know, Kaname can't do laundry to save his life! Not that I mind; we can pay to have it done for us now. But he tried once, and I had to replace all of my underwear."

"Hmm…." Cornelia mused. "Sounds like he did it on purpose."

Villetta frowned. "I liked those panties."

Cornelia laughed. "So, when are you and the Prime Minister going to get married?"

"Probably sometime in June next year," said Villetta. "But we're not sure yet. It's rather difficult to plan a giant wedding when there's an entire country to rebuild. Unfortunately, it's not really fitting for the Prime Minister of Japan and his mistress to simply elope. You and Guilford were lucky to get the wedding over with before the work piled up."

"Yes," said Cornelia, "It looked like an awful idea at the time, but it's all turned out so well."

"Speaking of marriage and Guilford, when are you two going on honeymoon?" Villetta asked. "He's well enough to travel, right?"

"I suppose so. We…. haven't discussed it much. I've been so busy here--" Cornelia quickly backtracked: "Not that I'm blaming you…."

"Not at all. You did us a huge favor. We can't thank you enough," Villetta said comfortingly. "You do look like you could use a break, though. You've gotten thinner, too. Is Guilford feeding you enough?"

Cornelia glared at Villetta.

"Back to business then.…" Villetta changed the subject.

The rest of lunch was spent on discussing topics that Cornelia found far more pleasant such as fundraising for the widows and orphans' stipend, finding a bigger building for the Veterans Assistance Bureau and when to toilet train the Japanese Prime Minister's son.

Later that evening, Cornelia applied for a one-year leave-of-absence for herself and her husband.


	5. Cost of Living

Even in the kinds of places that time appears to have left behind, life keeps moving forward. If someone had told the old Cornelia that she would be collecting warm eggs from a pair of hens in the morning, weeding a garden or sitting on a porch swing while lazily watching the sunset with Gilbert, she would have been insulted. Warrior princesses did not do such things.

With the battlefield and the throne relegated to the past, Cornelia felt differently now. She was getting used to the aroma of her husband's cooking, quiet contemplation in the garden chapel and visiting her sister-in-law, niece and nephew in Chiftonport.

Life was slower at the old li Britannia summerhouse on Vintner's Island. Life was simple. Life was sweet, good and pure.

Then the roof started leaking. Damn the April showers.

"Hmm…" Gilbert's face was turned in the direction of the dripping, even though he couldn't see it.

Plunk, plunk, plunk. The rain dropped into a basin that Cornelia had found in the kitchen.

"Princess, how long did you say your mother's family had this house?" he inquired.

"At least the past hundred and fifty years," she said sounding distressed. "It never leaked when Euphie and I lived here."

"Hmm…" said Gilbert. Apparently, his wife was not familiar with the maintenance of property.

"What, Gilbert?"

"I think we'll have to call in the experts for this one," he said. "Someone should look at the roof. An inspection for mold might be in order, too."

A few days later, after it stopped raining, the mold inspector came to take some samples from the walls and ceilings. Cornelia was not pleased at having pieces of the house removed, however small.

Her crankiness at the mold inspection was nothing compared to her reaction to the roofer. As Gilbert suspected, the roof had not been changed in the past 40 years or so, and it was overdue for total replacement. Unfortunately, even though the "summer cottage" was much smaller than most properties owned by Britannian royalty, the roof was still a formidable size. Its location on a secluded island where all supplies and workers had to be boated in didn't help either.

"WHAT?!" Cornelia felt nauseous upon hearing the price.

"68,000 pounds, ma'am," said the unfazed workman. "And that's if we use the asphalt shingles, which I strongly recommend. They'll last longer, and it'll keep your fire insurance bill low."

Fire insurance? thought Cornelia. Did we ever bother to buy fire insurance? Well no, I guess we used to think the royal treasury would take care of things. Damn.

A couple days later, the mold inspector called to say that one of the ceilings and a wall in an upstairs room would need to be ripped out. Tearing them down and re-installing them would probably cost about another 7,000 pounds.

Why oh why did Gilbert have to have the house checked for mold? Cornelia silently asked to no one in particular as she hung up the phone.

That's not fair, she scolded herself. He's only making sure that your house lasts. Besides, his immune system only just returned to normal – barely. Getting rid of the mold will be good for him. You don't want him to get sick.

Cornelia sat on the porch swing and brooded over the situation.

Between the two of them, she and Gilbert had more than enough in savings to cover the roof, but dipping into the savings would put an excruciatingly substantial dent in the pot.

Selling Ghanima Mansion in Riyadh was also no longer viable as the house had already been liquidated at a bargain basement rate. No individuals had emerged to claim the house after the liberation of the Areas, but the Arabian government had sent a letter to Cornelia some months ago insisting that she relinquish the house because it had not been the Emperor's to deed to her in the first place. She could either sell it to an Arabian citizen within two months of the letter's date, or else the government would confiscate the house.

Of course, Cornelia chose to sell Ghanima Mansion even though the sale price was a pittance. The auction fee and sales taxes took a sizeable chunk of money from the sale afterward. By mutual agreement, Cornelia and Gilbert set aside a large amount of what remained to pay for their year off. Of what was left after that decision, Gilbert invested half (putting it under savings,) and Cornelia took the other half to cover the costs of investigating a particular set of remains.

What about the temporary ex-royalty allowance? Cornelia asked herself. No, that came only in portions, not lump sums. The next payment was not going to cover the roof and whatever other repairs were going to turn up.

We could go back to work, she thought. -- No. That brings us back to the same problem: enough money in not enough time. The roof needs to be fixed before winter comes. Besides, if we go back to work, we'll end up paying rent in Tokyo and fixing the roof here.

Damn.

As for selling the old site of Artemis Palace at Pendragon…. That was out of the question. Nobody wanted to buy a patch of mostly irradiated earth on the edge of a crater, even if the grass was still green on the non-crater side of the grounds.

Gilbert joined his wife on the porch swing and handed her a mug of mint tea. He looked across the lawn, which was slowly being taken back by wildflowers (fuzzy dots of color) and the forest (a large blur at the far edges.) He put his arm around her, and she leaned her head against his shoulder. "It's so pleasant here," he said.

"Even with the leaking roof, the weeds, the mold, the dust and the draftiness?" Cornelia was truly surprised.

"Yes, even so," said Gilbert.

Cornelia snorted. "You're just saying that because it was my idea for us to come here."

"Well, the idea was a good one," Gilbert replied. After a pause, he added, "I like it here, very much – though your company does add to that effect."

Cornelia took a quiet moment to contemplate what he said. Then, she began to chuckle, which befuddled her husband.

"What?"

"You must be joking." She started laughing.

"No, I'm not," he said insistently.

Cornelia stopped laughing and smiled at him wickedly. "Thank you, my dear husband, but despite your admiration for me, you are rarely one to flatter. Either you've done something that you think will upset me even more than the repair costs have, or you're bringing me more bad news."

"I was rather hoping that it wouldn't be so obvious," he muttered in annoyance. "I am telling the truth, though."

"Out with it, Gilbert," Cornelia demanded, rolling her eyes.

He sighed. "In light of our problem of replacing the roof without making any big changes to the budget or savings, I noticed that we have a lot of antique furnishings in several rooms that we have not been using."

Cornelia groaned. Leave it to Gilbert to be practical this way, she thought.

"The prices of antiquities have been coming back up," he added encouragingly.

* * * * *

Author's Note: I'll be taking a break from Cornelia's point of view for a while to focus on Zero, Nunally or Guilford next. Special thanks to TheDudeJDCT and Poisoned-Inkwell for their help with planning upcoming installments.


	6. Postmortem: Arrangements

As Zero lowered Nunnally into her new wheelchair, Kallen caught the bleak expression in Nunnally's eyes and found it all too familiar. It meant not an expression of loss or grief but defeat. It was the same look that Nunnally had when Kallen had been unceremoniously shoved into the same prison cell with the vanquished princess. She hadn't even bothered to look at Kallen.

"Your eyes are open!" Kallen had said.

Nunnally had scoffed and replied emptily, "Kallen.... You're only here because Brother wants to keep me alive."

"He still cares?" Kallen had been surprised that any semblance of human warmth could remain in Lelouch.

"Don't be stupid," Nunnally had answered in a hollow voice. "We're trophies."

With those words, the conversation had ended. Nunnally continued to be taciturn thereafter.

At first, Kallen had tried to think of things to talk about to cheer Nunnally up, but nothing had come to mind.

News from the outside had been better left unspoken. With the ace pilot, Chairwoman Sumeragi, General Tohdoh, Li Xingke, the Tianzi and Schneizel el Britannia all imprisoned, the remaining resistance had been bereft of military expertise and supply chains.

Only Cornelia li Britannia had remained to oppose Lelouch in Japan, but her forces were miniscule in contrast the forces of Lelouch's global empire. And unlike Lelouch, she had no comprehensive genius, no Geass and (presumably because she had been a princess) no lifelong experience with turning nothing into something.

It had seemed that Lelouch could only succumb to old age or disease, which had been a terribly depressing thought since he had been young and healthy –megalomania aside. Kallen and Nunnally were apparently going to spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Everything even slightly pleasant eventually tied into the unpleasant topic of Lelouch. Kallen reminisced about her caring, older brother – who did not pull a 180 like Nunnally's Lelouch. Kallen missed her school friends – who went to school with Nunnally and Lelouch. Kallen pondered the fate of her mother – who Kallen would probably never see again on account of Lelouch. It was not as if Kallen could ask Nunnally how she'd been the past 6 weeks or about the past in general because those questions would unavoidably have lead to talking about Lelouch.

Finally, there had been nothing for Kallen to do except settle into boredom and wait for meals and the occasional opportunity to shower. They had been the only interruptions to the monotony of being in jail. Strangely, the food had been pretty decent. Nunnally never bothered to taste her meals. She only rapidly ate half of whatever she had been given and shoved the rest away. She also only bothered to shower because Kallen had complained that Nunnally was becoming pungent.

Only one occasion had offered Kallen any further insight into what was going on behind Nunnally's vacant eyes. She had been asleep when she murmured, "No, I can't. I mustn't." But when Kallen had asked about the unnamed, forbidden task after her cellmate had awakened, Nunnally had said, "I don't remember. It probably doesn't matter."

The unfamiliar voice of an old man summoned Kallen's attention away her memory. His clothes, although not ostentatious, were apparently custom-made and of high-quality materials. "Everything has been arranged as you requested, Zero."

"Zero? But, our intelligence said that you were cooperating with Lelouch," said Cornelia.

"Ma'am, he destroyed our gymnasium," replied the old man. "However things may work in the outside world, vandalism is punished here at Ashford Academy." Then he added with a warm smile, "Ruben Ashford. It's an honor to meet you all. Miss Stadtfeld, welcome back."

"Actually sir, it's Kouzuki now," said Kallen.

"Of course," said Ashford.

Nunnally frowned in perturbation. She had attended Ashford Academy, too. Why wasn't she being welcomed back?

"Mr. Ashford, Orange, Cornelia and I will escort the body to the Mortuary Studies Department with the paramedics," Zero announced. He said to the released prisoners, "Proper clothes are ready for you at the locker rooms. Kallen, could you please show them where the locker rooms are?"

Quite suddenly, Kallen felt everybody's eyes on her. She felt her face grow hot under their scrutiny. They were all looking at her, waiting to see if she would obey the mystery man behind the mask.

She did not want to decide either way, she realized. If she acknowledged the new Zero, it would mean letting go of Lelouch and the power he had in her heart. There would be a new authority. If she did not…. Well, the consequences were too dire to consider.

She gulped. "Yes, Zero-sama."

"Great," said Zero. "We'll meet you at the Mortuary Studies Department in a little while."

"Um, where is the Mortuary Studies Department?" asked Kallen. "I didn't know that we had one."

"Southwest corner of campus, behind the high shrubbery," said Ashford. "Only the vocational students in the department ever use it, and it's kept private for the sake of the clients."

"Let's get moving," Zero insisted. "The weather's warming up."

Followed by General Tohdoh, Ohgi and Schneizel, Kallen pushed Nunnally in her wheelchair. After showing the men to their locker room, Kallen and Nunnally went to the ladies' locker room. For Kallen, there was a new Black Knights uniform. For Nunnally, there was a white button-down shirt, tan Mary-Jane shoes, white stockings and a dress that was –"Pink. Why does it have to be pink?" Nunnally muttered.

"What's wrong with pink?" Kallen asked in puzzlement. "I thought you liked pink."

Nunnally sighed in irritation. "Never mind. It's just a color."

"Um, okay," said Kallen. "Would you like any help putting any of that on?"

"I can manage," Nunnally replied.

They got dressed and then met the men outside. General Tohdoh and Ohgi were wearing Black Knights uniforms. Schneizel was wearing a gray suit with a white button-down shirt. The group quickly made their way to the Mortuary Studies Department.

Inside, Lelouch had been laid out on a table on the stage area of a small lecture hall. The ambulance driver, the paramedic and Ruben Ashford had gone, but Jeremiah Gottwald and Cornelia li Britannia remained. Zero stood at Lelouch's head, talking with a Japanese woman who appeared to be in her late 20s.

He stopped and turned to face the newly attired arrivals. "You're here just in time. This is Dr. Eleanor Nakamura. Dr. Nakamura, meet Captain Kallen Kouzuki, Nunnally vi Britannia, General Tohdoh, Kaname Ohgi and Schneizel el Britannia."

She bowed politely, and so did they. "I came to take care of the death certificate," she said quietly.

"Will you be performing an autopsy as well?" asked Nunnally.

"If I may have your permission," Dr. Nakamura answered.

"Yes, of course," Nunnally consented. "That is, provided that I can watch you do it – the others here as well - and provided that the entire procedure will be video-recorded."

Cornelia found Nunnally's interest in witnessing the autopsy somewhat disturbing. "Are you sure that you want to watch, Nunnally? You're talking about cutting open Lelouch and examining his insides."

Nunnally nodded. "I want to see it shown beyond a doubt that our brother is dead and that there is no bringing him back. Then, nobody will be able to impersonate him or take power under his name. After that, I want his body burned, so that I can scatter his ashes to the wind myself."

"Good answer," Zero remarked. "Kallen, could you please get a video camera from the Clubhouse?"

* * * * *

By the time that Dr. Nakamura had dissected Lelouch's corpse to Nunnally's satisfaction, it was a couple hours past lunchtime. Despite the gruesome events of the morning, all of the witnesses could not help but be hungry. It had been a long time since breakfast, which had been especially small for the ex-prisoners since none of them had been peckish on the morning of their expected demise.

A spread of pizza, sandwiches, sushi, onigiri, mochi, fruit and cookies had appeared in the hallway outside of the classroom. As she began to follow the others out, Kallen looked over her shoulder and noticed Nunnally still sitting in her wheelchair, still looking at her brother's now naked body. A folded sheet was all that guarded the fallen Emperor's modesty. His clothes lay folded by his feet, destined for display in some future museum.

Lunch was clearly going to have to wait a bit longer, thought Kallen ruefully. She walked back to Nunnally and put a hand on her shoulder. "You should eat."

"Later," said Nunnally. "I don't want to leave him just yet."

"You want me to bring you something?"

"We're not supposed to have food in here." Nunnally pointed to the sign by the door.

"School's out. I'm not even enrolled," said Kallen. "What're they going to do, expel me? Besides, they'll probably clean in here again before the start of the year anyway."

"An onigiri then," Nunnally accepted. "Thank you, Kallen."

Kallen went into the hallway, and Nunnally was left alone with the figure on the table, which she knew to be a doll. She reached out and took its hand, feeling bones that she knew were weighted plastic. The hand was cold and a little stiff, as could be expected. The doll-makers had done well. Nunnally returned the hand to its place on the table and studied the mannequin's face. It looked like Lelouch's face, but the features were slack. In other words, they were appropriately dead. This fake Lelouch was exactly what a corpse should be: an empty container.

Kallen came back with disinfectant wipes, the onigiri and a bottle of tea, all of which Nunnally accepted gratefully. For herself, Kallen had brought a plate with a little of everything and a bottle of beer. The girls ate, quietly guarding the body that wasn't going anywhere.

Kallen reflected on her friend's behavior. Since Lelouch had been impaled this morning, Nunnally had gone from grief to defeat to crankiness to vindictiveness to a stony stoicism. It had not been so different with Kallen when Naoto had died. She, too, had experienced several different emotions, even fury at Naoto for having put himself in danger.

Zero came into the room. "Sorry to interrupt your lunch."

"Don't apologize, Zero. It's unlike you," said Nunnally mildly.

There was an awkward pause. The mask tilted ever so slightly.

"Zero-sama, have you eaten, too?" inquired Kallen.

"Yes. Thank you, Kallen."

"Have you come to give us some kind of an update?" Nunnally asked.

"Yes, about moving your brother's body. There is a crematory that would be willing to accept him on the outskirts of town. We can leave just before dawn. A decoy procession will leave from the school gates. We will take one of the tunnels under the school to our own vehicles 10 blocks away."

"So everybody here now will be joining me and him?"

"Yes, unless you object. Their presence would deter anybody from stealing the body if we were discovered."

"The more witnesses, the better, too," Nunnally added.

"I thought so as well. You will receive the ashes, afterwards, of course," said Zero.

"Yes, of course," echoed Nunnally. She glanced at the corpse on the table. "I want to take his ashes to Kururugi Shrine as soon as possible. It was where Brother and I were happiest."

"That can be arranged," said Zero.

"Good," said Nunnally, "I was also hoping, though…. Will you please take me there yourself? I want to keep scattering of the ashes simple: just you, me and onii-sama."

"That's a surprising request," said Zero stiffly. "I killed him. Why do you want me there?"

"There's more to death than expiring," Nunnally replied. "It just seems right that we escort him to the end together. Finish the job, you might say."

"There may be other urgent matters that I must attend to," said Zero.

"It would be a great comfort to have you beside me," Nunnally insisted, "Besides, spreading the ashes shouldn't take very long."

"We've only been briefly acquainted," Zero observed apprehensively, "yet I have your confidence."

"Of course, for you are Zero," said Nunnally, "and you saved my life."

Zero hesitated but relented, "As you wish, then. I will go see to other business, now."

"One more thing," said Nunnally. "Could Brother's body be waked tonight in the Clubhouse? Milly Ashford, Rivalz Cardemonde, Nina Einstein – any of his friends from school -- should be allowed in and allowed at the cremation, too. They'll want to see us."

Zero faced Nunnally. "That can be done, but there's something you should know…. Milly and Rivalz…. They won't remember you."

"Geass?"

"I received information that your father rewrote their memories so that Lelouch had a younger brother named Rolo instead. Even Lelouch completely forgot you for several months."

Nunnally's small lunch was suddenly not sitting so well.

"Do you still want them to come?" Zero asked.

Nunnally nodded. She looked at the figure on the table. "Yes, thank you. If they'd like to see him. If it's not too much bother. I'm sure you must have things to do."

"It is not too much bother. I'm sorry to have brought you such upsetting news. If it's any comfort, Jeremiah has a Geass canceller in his left eye that we can use to restore Milly and Rivalz' memories."

"Then we can get them their memories back tonight!" said Kallen.

"No," Zero objected. "They'll be coming for their classmate's funeral, which will be painful enough. They shouldn't have to confront their false memories at the same time. Jeremiah can meet with them after a few weeks and restore their memories then. Now, please excuse me."

Zero left the room. Kallen took Nunnally's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Nunnally squeezed back at Kallen's hand so hard that it hurt.

"Nobody tells me anything," Nunnally murmured vacantly. "Nothing – until after the fact – when the stage is set, and the conditions are cleared."

"Nana…."

"I should stop being surprised already."

"I'm sorry," said Kallen.

Nunnally wasn't interested in hearing why Kallen should be sorry. "Don't worry about it."

There was a knock at the classroom door. "Yes?" Nunnally called out.

Cornelia poked her head in. "Zero said that you wanted the body moved to the Clubhouse and that you might need help with getting it dressed."

"Yes, that's right," Nunnally confirmed.

Cornelia and Jeremiah entered and covered the corpse with a sheet. They wheeled it out of the classroom with Kallen and Nunnally in tow. As they got close to the Clubhouse, a familiar person appeared in the doorway.

"Sayoko?" asked Nunnally.

"I arrived as soon as I could, after they'd let me out of prison. Mr. Ashford was rather quick to hire me back. Welcome home, Miss Nunnally."

Home, was it? She hadn't been at Ashford for several months. School felt like an entirely different lifetime. Even so, Nunnally elected not to fuss over minor details. "Thank you, Sayoko."

"Well, let's bring him inside," Sayoko gestured at the body under the sheet. "From what Zero tells me, there are a lot of preparations to get underway."

"Preparations?"

"For the wake," said Sayoko as Cornelia and Jeremiah rolled the body inside on its gurney. "I've already picked out some clothes for him. I hope you approve. We should dress him before he gets stiffer."

"Sayoko, how can you be so matter-of-fact about all of this?" Nunnally wondered.

"There is work to do. There will be time enough to be sad later."

"You feel sad for my brother?"

Sayoko sighed, "It's such a pity, what's become of him. You should get inside. We're letting the heat in, just standing in the doorway."

They entered the main hall of the Clubhouse and Sayoko showed Nunnally the outfit. Nunnally had borrowed it once for the Cross-Dressing Festival. A pair of jeans, a black sleeveless turtleneck, a reddish-brown jacket. There was also a pair of underpants, dark socks and shoes. "He will look handsome in that. Thank you, Sayoko," said Nunnally.

"Then I will see to it that he's washed and dressed," said Sayoko. She looked at Cornelia, Jeremiah and Kallen. "It will, of course, be easier and faster if I have assistance. Could you, please?"

Cornelia nodded. No matter what Lelouch had done, he was still family. Jeremiah obliged as a matter of chivalry. A lady had asked for his assistance. Kallen agreed as well, though she wasn't sure if her agreement was for Nunnally's sake, Sayoko's or her own.

So, Nunnally watched as they prepared the doll: wiped it down, massaged its limbs so that they could be positioned in the clothes, dressed the doll and combed out its dark, straight hair. They placed it in a casket on a long coffee table and made some more adjustments per Nunnally's instructions. Yes, putting coins on his eyelids and gluing his jaws shut would be fine. Arms at his sides looked better than arms crossed. No, he didn't need a blanket; he was dead, not sleeping. Yes, a black king chess piece in his jacket pocket was appropriate. The board and extra pieces could be added at the cremation. At last, after Nunnally had fussed over the replica as if it really were Lelouch, it looked right. The whole process had been both exhaustive and exhausting for all involved.

With that task done, Sayoko disappeared into the kitchen to prepare snacks, tea, coffee and other beverages for the wake. Jeremiah and Cornelia departed to meet with Zero, Schneizel, Ohgi and General Tohdoh. Kallen and Nunnally were again alone with the body.

"Do you think they'll come?" Nunnally asked.

"Who? The Student Council?"

"Yes. Onii-sama's old friends."

"I don't know," said Kallen.

"I wish I weren't wearing pink," said Nunnally.

"What's wrong with pink?" Kallen asked for the second time.

"It's not black," Nunnally replied. "Or white. White used to be traditional for funerals in Japan, right?"

"I could ask Mr. Ashford for a key and check his old room," Kallen said referring to Lelouch. "Maybe Rolo left something that might fit you, a school uniform perhaps…. Oh, I forgot. Your room. I'm sorry. You lived here, too."

"Don't be upset about it. That was very long time ago," said Nunnally of her friend's faux pas. "Could you tell me about Rolo? I think I'll pass on wearing his clothes, though."

"To be honest, I didn't know him for very long."

"What do you remember?" pressed Nunnally.

"Well, he was about your height, built kind of small. His eyes were pale violet, and his hair was sandy brown sort of like yours but not quite. Its texture was fine, and it wasn't as thick. It seems like he adored Lelouch, but otherwise he was kind of creepy."

"Creepy?"

"Yes," said Kallen. "When he looked at people, it was as if they were blips on a screen, boring food or annoying insects."

"Whatever happened to him?" Nunnally wondered.

Kallen shrugged. "After Schneizel revealed Lelouch to the other Black Knights, after the Second Battle for Tokyo, a Vincent Knightmare that was probably piloted by Rolo burst into the room and took off with Lelouch. That was the last that I ever saw of Rolo."

"You were there when Brother was exposed as Zero?" Nunnally said incredulously.

Kallen's gaze shifted down uncomfortably. "Yes, I was."

"What were you doing there?"

"They wanted to shoot him, and I was in their way. Lelouch laughed at us all, said that he had been using us all along, that I had been his best pawn. I stepped aside. He told me to live."

Kallen felt tears begin to well in her eyes. "Not long after, the Vincent showed up."

"So you did what onii-sama wanted you to do," Nunnally said gently.

Kallen nodded.

Nunnally looked to the figure on the table. "What a fool," she said with a wry smile. "Too bad he didn't take his own advice."

"Yes. Everybody has a blind spot."

"Yes…." A disagreeable thought occurred to Nunnally. "The other Black Knights."

"Huh?"

"You said, 'Schneizel revealed Lelouch to the other Black Knights.' That means, my brother was revealed to you at a different time."

The former bodyguard cringed.

"What's the matter?" Nunnally inquired.

"Nana, please don't ask me."

"Why not, Kallen?"

"It's not a pleasant memory."

"But, I want to know," said Nunnally.

"Nunnally, please--"

"Don't I have a right to know?" the girl demanded.

"It's not going to bring him back," said Kallen.

"I don't care," Nunnally replied. "I just need to know – for my own sake. Don't hide things from me. Please, Kallen. Not you, too."

"I didn't mean to—"

"I'm tired of everybody's reasons." Nunnally blandly cut her off.

Kallen answered with her eyes downcast. "It was since you disappeared during the First Battle for Tokyo. I had followed Suzaku to Kaminejima. He shot Lelouch's helmet, and when it broke apart, I saw."

"And then what?" Nunnally questioned.

"And then I ran, leaving him to Suzaku and the Emperor."

"You could have told me—at anytime. During all those long talks we had--"

"Nunnally, I was your prisoner. I didn't know who else might be listening then. Suzaku might have bugged the cell. I had to protect—"

"Zero." Nunnally scoffed quietly. "Well, what's done is done. There's nothing I can do with the information now."

"I'm sorry," said Kallen.

Nunnally looked down at Kallen who was kneeling by the wheelchair. It was very tempting to say something nasty, to dish out words that would reduce the warrior into a sopping heap of tears. However, there was no justification to being unnecessarily cruel. So instead, Nunnally smiled at Kallen and decided to say, "I accept your apology. You were only doing your best. I'm glad you told me eventually, Kallen. Friends ought to be open and honest with each other."


	7. Postmortem: Respite

Author's Note: Special thanks to Tomas the Betrayer for his assistance with Sayoko. I hope that you find her upcoming moments entertaining.

* * * * *

The grandfather clock struck five and rang 17 times, gently. Nunnally glanced at the clock's round face with its arms and quiet ticking. There were sharp sets of lines and curves along the circumference. They appeared familiar but foreign. The markings were decipherable yet unmemorable, and Nunnally felt her mouth go dry as she realized: she had forgotten how to read ink print and handwriting.

"What's the matter?" Kallen had noticed Nunnally's distressed expression.

"I've forgotten how to read. I haven't seen letters since Mother was shot."

"You read Braille," Kallen pointed out. "You'll probably catch on to print in no time."

"Yes. That's right," Nunnally agreed. "I just hadn't expected to be surprised that I'd forgotten."

Suddenly, she yawned. For a girl who had spent the past two months in prison with hardly anything to do but sleep, she was inordinately tired.

"5:01. The wake starts in almost two hours," Kallen remarked. "Are you going to stay up all night?"

"Absolutely," said Nunnally. "I don't want to miss a minute."

"Neither do I," said Kallen. "You know, it will be easier to stay up if you take a nap. I could use one, too."

"That does sound nice." Nunnally brought her wheelchair up to the nearest sofa.

"Let me help you," Kallen responded.

Nunnally almost objected. She had become more self-sufficient since V.V. took her back to Britannia. Nunnally could get onto the sofa herself, but the concern in Kallen's face signified the warrior's desire for a substantial sign that she truly had been forgiven for her secrecy and that they really were friends again.

Nunnally nodded her consent. "Thank you, Kallen. Lelouch used to do that for me." To indicate that she would not want help regularly Nunnally added, "It has been an especially tiring day."

Kallen lifted Nunnally and gently placed her on the sofa. This time, Kallen yawned. "You're very welcome." She slid her feet out of her shoes and lay down on another sofa by Nunnally's sofa. Kallen covered her eyes with her forearm, relishing the pleasant pressure and darkness.

"Kallen?" Nunnally mumbled sleepily.

"Yes, Nana?"

"I was a pain in the ass in prison, wasn't I?"

"Uh-huh."

"I'm sorry."

"Go to sleep, Nana."

* * * * *

Kallen awoke to the sound of footsteps and something being set on a table, then footsteps and the swinging of a door. Kallen opened her eyes and sat up. The clock indicated 6:25 pm. There was a tray on a table by the wall farthest from the corpse. On the tray was a 1-foot tall, 2 ½ foot wide pyramid of assorted finger sandwiches.

The door swung open again, and Sayoko entered with a bowl of fruit salad the size of a microwave oven. "Oh, sorry to disturb you," she said.

"Not at all," said Kallen as she suppressed a yawn. "It's time I got up."

Sayoko set the fruit bowl on the table and turned to go.

"Would you like any help with that?" asked Kallen.

"Oh, that won't be necessary," said Sayoko. "I'm a super-maid, after all."

"Um, okay." Kallen went to the bathroom to freshen up. When she returned, a three-tiered vegetable platter, a cake-stand loaded with mini-cupcakes and plates of mochi, sashimi, spanikopitas, miniature cherry turnovers, miniature sponge cakes and crispy-fried chicken wings were also on what was apparently the snack table. Nunnally looked like she was still asleep.

"Sayoko, there aren't that many people coming tonight, are there?" Kallen asked nervously when the maid returned with shrimp cocktail.

"I am throwing a send-off party for Master Lelouch. It will be a good one no matter what," Sayoko declared as she set down the chilled crustaceans. She was a very earnest person.

"Right. Just checking. Are you sure you don't want any help?"

"No, I'm fine." Sayoko paused by the door. "Wait, come to think of it, could you please wake up Miss Nunnally? I don't think she'll be wanting to welcome company with a case of bed hair."

"Uh, sure."

Sayoko went back out the door. Nunnally opened her eyes.

"Hey!" Kallen complained at having been rendered useless.

"I couldn't sleep with Sayoko making all that noise anyway," said Nunnally. She sat up and yawned. "You can help me into the wheelchair if you like, but I would really prefer to use the bathroom unaccompanied."

"Right." Kallen put Nunnally in the wheelchair, and the girl went off on her own. Now, Kallen was alone in the room with the casket that held Lelouch. She sat back down on a sofa by the casket and fidgeted uneasily. Even with the sound of clanking glassware coming from the kitchen, the room seemed unbearably quiet. She forced herself to look at him.

He lay there, mute, still and empty in death. No more wit. No more wheels turning in his head. No more anything except butchered meat and bone in a neat arrangement. He really is gone, Kallen thought. There's nobody home.

It had all happened so fast. One minute he was alive, and the next minute, he had died. It still seemed that at any second now, Lelouch should sit up and grin at her. His death was just part of yet another grand plan. He should rise up and tease her, "Don't you have any faith in me, Q-1? I'm the man of miracles."

Of course, Kallen knew better. She had seen death before. But, knowing better offered no solace. She made herself stand up and approach him. Kallen gently rested one hand on the wood and her other hand on Lelouch's cold cheek. She ran her thumb over his lips. She had kissed him there a long time ago. On the corpse, those lips were soft from water and lotion that Sayoko had applied to keep them from drying out. Even so, the absence of warm, gentle breath between those lips proved that the body was only a body.

Kallen felt her tears welling up again. She turned away to avoid crying on the dead man. There was a box of tissues nearby. She savagely grabbed the box and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. When the tissue was used up, Kallen raised her gaze to look for a trashcan. Unexpectedly, she found herself face-to-face with Sayoko.

"Here." The maid sympathetically handed Kallen a glass of lemonade. "You should have this."

"Oh, thank you," said Kallen.

"You're welcome," replied Sayoko as she held out a trash bin for the tissue. "You looked like you could use a drink."

Kallen swallowed the lemonade. "It's bitter!"

"It's vodka," Sayoko informed the teen. "Consolation for those of us who will never be Empress."

"Excuse me?" Kallen shrieked and sputtered.

"Billions of women all over the world are now as disappointed as you." The maid shrugged with an unsettling cheeriness.

"That – that's creepy!" protested Kallen. Who'd want to sleep with – never mind marry -- a mass-murdering megalomaniac?

"Would you like to help me set up the drinks when you're done with yours?" Sayoko responded. "Work always makes me feel better."

"Oh, fine." Kallen gulped down her spiked lemonade and realized too late what she had just been suckered into. Although tipsy, she still had more than enough coordination to arrange 3 ice chests filled with beers, club soda, ginger ale, cola, sweet sake, champagne and fruit juices. While Sayoko set up a coffee urn and samovar, Kallen fetched vodka, rum, cognac, grappa, whiskies, ouzo, vermouths, red wine, white wine and sake from suspicious box that had originally contained oranges. Lastly, Kallen and Sayoko organized coffee cups, beverage glasses, mint sprigs, lemon wedges, lime wedges, candied cherries, sugar, cream, spoons, plates, forks, and napkins.

Nunnally returned just as they were finishing up. Kallen flopped onto a sofa after putting the napkins in place. Sayoko disappeared into the kitchen again, but before Kallen could get up, Sayoko returned with -- of all things -- a dish of piping hot mini-pizzas.

"Just for us," Sayoko announced. She sat down by Kallen and Nunnally. "He was rather fond of these. He asked for them often aboard the Avalon."

The pizzas must have been for C.C. actually, Kallen knew, but she was not keen on spoiling Sayoko's nostalgia at the moment. People sometimes grieved in peculiar ways.

The maid extended the dish to Nunnally, who politely took one of the mini-pizzas. Kallen also took one. Sayoko took the last one for herself. They each bit into their mini-pizzas and considered the warm tomato sauce, gooey cheese and fragrant basil and mushrooms.

Nunnally spoke after swallowing her first bite. "I remember, at school, he started eating a lot of pizza. Funny, it was around when C.C. showed up. I told him he was going to get a blubbery belly. She was a bad influence." The girl smiled.

"Skinny fool," said Kallen. She bit into her mini-pizza with a loud crunch.

"Mmm, pizza," commented Sayoko.

The ladies finished their mini-pizzas. Sayoko took the tray back into the kitchen.

"I wonder where everybody is," Nunnally remarked. "Shouldn't the wake have started already?"

Kallen declined to comment. It would not have been surprising if the others in their party had elected to go out on the town instead of staying in to keep a dead tyrant company.

To her relief, there was a knock at the door.


	8. Postmortem: Camouflage

"Come in!" Kallen reflexively shouted.

Jeremiah Gottwald entered.

"You're back?" Kallen exclaimed. What was he doing here again? So far as she had heard, the cyborg had been no friend of Lelouch when he was Zero and a traitor to Lelouch when he was Emperor – Unless… Kallen's brow furrowed in confusion.

Jeremiah Gottwald raised a teal eyebrow. "A good evening to you, too, Captain Kouzuki, Miss Nunnally."

"Good evening, Mr. Gottwald," said Nunnally

"I came to pay my respects," he stated.

"Certainly, you are welcome to," replied the sister of the deceased.

Respects? "I thought you hated him," Kallen blurted out.

"Chivalry requires some generosity toward a fallen enemy," said Jeremiah, "as well as courtesy toward members of the fairer sex, especially those in mourning." He kneeled before Nunnally. "I am sorry for your loss."

"He was lost to me long ago," the girl answered. "Thank you for your condolences."

Before Kallen could grumble that chivalry was a pretentious load of crock, soft piano music suddenly began to play. Sayoko had stealthily come back from the kitchen and activated the sound system with a mojito in hand. She turned from the controls to face the others. "Good evening, Orange-kun."

"Good evening, Miss Sayoko."

"There are other people coming, aren't there?" she inquired. She preferred that her efforts not be wasted.

"Yes. The meetings ran a little over, and the others are making phone calls to let people know they're still alright."

"Why Mr. Gottwald, don't you have any friends or family to call?" said Nunnally.

"I do not," he replied succinctly.

Before the girl could ask any more awkward questions, Sayoko suggested, "Nunnally, perhaps you and Kallen should go get some tea and have something to eat so that Orange-kun can have some words with Master Lelouch?"

Nunnally acquiesced. "I suppose it would be rude to hover."

As she and Kallen headed for the samovar, Jeremiah Gottwald rose to his feet and asked Sayoko, "You still call him that?"

"The dead are owed respect," said the maid. "It is also rude to speak ill of former employers and supervisors."

"Ah. Well. I will have to work on that, " Jeremiah said sheepishly. "Chivalry is a practice, not a state of being. So is etiquette. Your diligence is most enviable."

Sayoko blushed. "You flatter me, Mr. Gottwald."

Jeremiah glanced furtively at the teenagers and lowered his voice. "She appears to be taking it well"

Sayoko moved closer to him and whispered back. "She's putting on a brave face."

"Seems to run in the family," Jeremiah commented quietly.

"And how is Zero?" she queried.

"How can anyone tell with that mask covering him?"

"Is he coming to the wake?"

Jeremiah shrugged. "Who knows? If I were in his shoes, I'd want to be alone. He's been surrounded by people all day."

He stole another look in Nunnally and Kallen's direction. The girls had seated themselves at a small table. Kallen was examining her mochi ball with unnatural interest.

"Do you think they suspect?" Jeremiah asked, referring to their conspiracy.

Sayoko snorted. "Of course, they do. Anyone who really knew Master Lelouch would, but they're keeping quiet for now."

"Good. We should keep an eye on them a while longer."

"Yes, but before they get any more suspicious--"

* * * * *

Kallen poured cups of tea for herself and Nunnally from the samovar. The warrior put two finger sandwiches and a mochi ball on her plate. Nunnally got some vegetables and shrimp cocktail.

They sat at one of the small tables some distance from the maid and the cyborg. The older people were still talking to each other, surprisingly.

"Mr. Gottwald," Kallen caught Sayoko saying. The Japanese maid's cheeks flushed slightly pink, perhaps from the mojito.

Jeremiah shifted nervously. The man stepped closer to the woman and said something that Kallen couldn't hear. The piano music interfered with the whispers. Sayoko moved in closer as well.

"That's weird," Kallen remarked. "I thought he was going to 'have some words with Master Lelouch.'"

Nunnally giggled. "Obviously, he's come early to have some words with Miss Sayoko, too."

Now, Kallen blushed. She felt like she was intruding on something private. She noticed that her mochi ball was green tea-flavored. "That's ridiculous," Kallen quietly replied. "When would they have had time to—"

"Love conquers all?" Nunnally quipped. A brief troubled look entered her expression, but it was replaced almost instantly with amusement. "I'm sure they must have found a way."

"I missed your company in prison," Sayoko's barely audible voice emerged over the piano music.

Jeremiah looked taken aback, but then he said with sudden longing. "Miss Sayoko, I truly felt your absence."

"You will allow me to bring you a screwdriver later?" Sayoko asked him casually.

Jeremiah chuckled at the orange joke. "That is very thoughtful of you, dear lady, but my parts are all in working order."

"Of course. How silly of me not to notice that you've kept yourself maintained." Sayoko leaned in to whisper something in Jeremiah's ear before flouncing back to the kitchen with a satisfied smile.

"See?" Nunnally gleefully gloated.

Kallen was too flabbergasted to reply.

Jeremiah was frozen in place, dumbfounded for a moment. Then, he turned and walked slowly to Lelouch's body.

The cyborg stood beside the corpse for a while before speaking softly to it. Jeremiah's manner was gentle, as if to a close friend. Kallen startled when he reached into the casket, but Nunnally's touch and shaking head told her to be still. The man spoke again. He pulled out a handkerchief and raised it to the human side of his face. A few more words followed. They were succeeded by an unburdened smile.

* * * * *

Jeremiah stood beside the casket and addressed the dead man, "Everything so far has gone according to plan. You may rest in peace, your Majesty. I will not fail you." He patted the Lelouch's shoulder. "You've redeemed me. I cannot fail you." Tears trickled down the natural side of Jeremiah's face, the side that was hidden from view. He wiped them away quickly. "Thank you."

* * * * *

Author's Note: Special thanks to Tomas the Betrayer for spurring more meditations on Miss Sayoko.


	9. Postmortem: Surfaces

There was a knock at the door. Having realized her initial rudeness of shouting at Jeremiah, Kallen rose from the table and answered the door. Schneizel and Cornelia stood outside.

"Ah." She paused, trying to decide what their proper titles were as their nobility in the legal sense was now questionable, and she had never thought highly of nobles to begin with – with two notable exceptions. She settled on saying simply, "Good evening."

"Good evening, Captain Kouzuki," said Schneizel with an amused smile.

Cornelia looked slightly annoyed.

"May we come in?" Schneizel inquired. "This _is _our brother's funeral."

"Oh, right." Kallen let them in. She shut the door and turned around.

The temperature in the room seemed to have dropped 10 degrees. Nunnally, who only a minute ago had been smirking at the thought of Orange and Sayoko's blossoming romance, now had a most humorless expression. Sayoko, who had come back from the kitchen, was gripping her mojito glass tightly as if with murderous intent. Jeremiah Gottwald looked a little woebegone, as though letting in the ex-royal, elder siblings were an unfortunate inevitability.

Wow, who died? thought Kallen. Oh wait. Duh.

Nunnally spoke first. "Good evening, Schneizel, Cornelia."

"Good evening, Nunnally," replied Cornelia.

"Hello, Sister," said Schneizel.

"It was good of you to come," Nunnally pronounced.

"We came for your sake," said Cornelia emphatically.

"Lelouch was our brother, too," Schneizel added gently.

"Yes, so he was," Nunnally agreed. She sighed miserably. "You should also be able to say, 'Goodbye.'"

"Ladies first?" said Schneizel to Cornelia.

"Oh. Well…."

"It's not very formal," Nunnally reassured. "You don't have to make a speech or anything. Unless, you really want to. You could just chat with him a bit."

"I'd like that," said Cornelia stiffly. Really, she would have preferred to spend the evening with just Nunnally.

"Schneizel, are you fond of cognac?" Nunnally queried. "We have some. It's self-serve."

"As matter of fact, I am," Schneizel answered. "How thoughtful of you to mention it." He turned to Cornelia. "Please, excuse me, Sister."

Jeremiah moved away from the casket, leaving empty space for Cornelia as she approached. She stood beside Lelouch and unenthusiastically studied his vacant face with the gold-colored coins holding its eyelids shut. The mouth was set in a permanent expression with super-glued teeth. "That makes three," she noted: Clovis, Euphemia, and Lelouch all died in Japan. At least, Nunnally was still alive.

The warrior ex-princess speculated as to what Lelouch would encounter on the other side, if there were indeed another side. Oblivion would be too good for him. She imagined him in Hell, his skin and flesh blackening to a crisp that sloughed off before growing back. Cornelia felt no satisfaction at the thought.

Unbidden, Euphemia entered the mental image, passing through the flames unscathed. She serenely and smilingly extended her hand to Lelouch, who took it, and the two walked toward a soft, white light together. Cornelia snapped out of this pretty daydream with a start when she realized that she had smiled. Cornelia rebuked herself. What was she thinking? Lelouch, the monster, didn't deserve to rest in peace. As for Euphie, she had been too forgiving for her own good.

"I hope you burn," Cornelia said quietly. "I hope you get everything that should be coming to you."

She looked up, and noticed the maid fading the music from Scarlatti to jazz. There was something familiar about her that had bothered Cornelia since the afternoon. Then it occurred to her….

* * * * *

Schneizel poured himself a cognac and observed Jeremiah making himself an Irish coffee. "Nunnally appears to be taking it well," Schneizel mentioned.

"Yes, that is so," said Jeremiah. "She has a tougher personality than most people expect."

"Really?"

"She has to," Jeremiah pointed out.

"True. With a family like ours…. Ever since Marianne died, everything started to go rotten."

"Hmm," was all Jeremiah had to say on the matter as he decided to focus on his coffee. He and Schneizel had both learned, eventually, that Marianne had been no saint, but her death did herald the decline of the Empire.

"Yet it is rot that brings nourishment to successive generations," Schneizel said to himself.

"The ways of nature tend to be wise," Jeremiah affirmed.

Schneizel smirked. "Quite an ironic comment, coming from you." He referred to Jeremiah's artificial parts.

"I'm just full of suprises," said the cyborg.

"I suppose I should go check on my sister now."

"Not a bad idea."

Schneizel went to Nunnally and Kallen's table, leaving Jeremiah to his drink. He noticed Cornelia and Sayoko having a chat by the music player. Cornelia was definitely stressed, judging from her confused frown and raised eyebrow. In contrast, Sayoko appeared perfectly composed and placid. Whatever they were discussing, the ninja maid clearly had the upper hand, which was really something, considering Cornelia li Britannia's intimidating persona. Jeremiah got himself a plate of spanikopitas and observed from the sidelines with amusement.

* * * * *

Sayoko noticed Cornelia approaching. "Oh. Do you dislike jazz? I wouldn't mind putting back the Scarlatti."

Cornelia answered quietly, "I'm surprised to see you here, Miss Sayoko. You deserted us in Cambodia."

The words made Sayoko pause a moment, but she replied calmly, "I assure you. It was for Miss Nunnally."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Cornelia incredulously replied, "That's strange. You joined Lelouch. He was our enemy."

"Schneizel was using Miss Nunnally," Sayoko reminded Cornelia. "I thought Master Lelouch was the kind of person who would put a stop to it. He used to show such tenderness and protectiveness toward her, I believed that his brotherly love was a sure thing even if nothing else was."

"You must have been disappointed when he went to war against her."

"Yes, it's terrible when siblings fight each other. I only stayed under duress then," Sayoko confided. "He threatened us. The scientific crew and I defected at the first opportunity. The two months in prison after we got caught were no picnic."

"Your loyalty's changed, I see," Cornelia surmised.

"No, Cornelia-sama. You are mistaken," said Sayoko kindly. "My loyalty has always been with Miss Nunnally. I've watched over her for so many years, it's almost as if she were my own family."

Cornelia was not quite convinced. "Your warmth toward her is apparent, but… you were with the Black Knights when she was Governor. I saw you in the news broadcast when the SAZ reopened. Surely, she would have needed you by her side at that time."

Sayoko answered coolly. "I am the heir of the Shinozaki clan. Our family abides by a tradition of honor and courage. At the time, I thought that a just world was in everybody's interests, including Miss Nunnally's. The Black Knights reputedly were the Knights for Justice."

The ninja maid mashed the mint in her mojito with a spoon and took a sip.

She concluded, "It is unfortunate; I am disillusioned with justice. The pursuit of justice has left in its wake many mountains of corpses. Now, I would be content simply to protect the people I love."

"That's an admirable sentiment, but it's one with which I can't agree," said Cornelia.

"I know," said Sayoko. "You are not known for forgiveness. Nevertheless, please pardon me as I wish to refresh my drink. Perhaps, you should have one, too? It's good for calming the nerves once in a while."

The ninja maid turned on her heel and headed for the bar. Cornelia was frozen to the spot, stunned at having been so unexpectedly abandoned by a servant. The former princess also suspected that she had just been made the butt of joke. Whatever happened to protocol, these days? she wondered.

* * * * *

"Looks like you won, whatever that was," Jeremiah complimented Sayoko as she hastened to the bar.

"She's very inquisitive," said Sayoko generously as she added too much sugar to her glass. Jeremiah handed her the rum bottle. "Somebody else we'll have to keep track of."

She poured herself a liberal measure of the liquor, just enough to compensate for having been grilled.

"Allow me." Jeremiah added the limejuice in case Sayoko was adding too much of everything due to distraction.

"Thank you. Speaking of keeping track of people, one of us should go find Zero-sama now."

"I suppose I should be the one to do it." He poured in the club soda.

"Yes, that would make sense." Leaving Lelouch's funeral early would fit Jeremiah's legend of having defected from the Demon Emperor to Zero's side.

Sayoko noticed Kallen coming toward the bar. The maid removed a package from her apron pocket. "I put this together while I was in the kitchen. Please, Orange-kun, take it with you." She winked. "I promise the contents will come in handy later."

Kallen had noticed the gift and turned pink.

"Thank you, dear lady." Jeremiah accepted the package. Then he took Sayoko's hand and kissed it. "I bid you goodnight and take my leave."

"Good night, Mr. Gottwald. We must rendezvous again soon."

After Orange left, Kallen inquired, "Um, Miss Sayoko.... Could you please teach me how to make a vodka martini?"

* * * * *

"How is your cognac, Schneizel?" Nunnally inquired when he came to the table that she and Kallen occupied. "I am not familiar yet with alcoholic beverages."

Schneizel swirled the drink in his glass. "It's excellent. Thanks for asking."

"Will you be staying up all night with Kallen and me?"

"I'm afraid not, Nunnally. As sorry as I am for our brother's tragic death, it's imperative that I be alert in the days ahead. I am still Prime Minister of Britannia. The country and the world will be watching. Zero may be their man of miracles, but they will inevitably look to me to speak of practicalities."

"You don't mean that you'll be in charge of everything!" Kallen protested.

"Certainly not, Captain Kouzuki. There's no need to jump to conclusions. I only meant that, owing to its size, Britannia has not left the world stage," said Schneizel. "Besides, my brother vaccinated the world against despots, especially the benevolent-looking ones. It would be folly for me to hold such delusions of hegemony in this lifetime. For better or worse, we've entered into the era of rule by consent and of divided responsibility."

"I, for one, think it will be better," said Kallen.

"You may very well be right," said Schneizel. "I expect the era will be better, but not for the reasons that you think."

"Oh, would you care to enlighten us?" Kallen requested a little testily.

"My reasons for expecting the dawn of an international golden age are not appropriate to mention in polite company," Schneizel replied. "However, I will give you a hint, Captain. Consider the factors affecting the economy along with the spirit of the times. That's all I have to say about it for now."

Kallen made a grumpy, unappeased face.

Nunnally laughed. "I'm sure you can figure it out, Kallen. You always were good at schoolwork. Now, I'm curious, too."

"It shouldn't take long then if you both work on it," Schneizel said encouragingly. "Speaking of scholarly pursuits, Nunnally, will you be wanting to return to school?"

Nunnally was taken aback. She had not given much thought to the future for the past two months. "I—I don't know. Why do you ask?"

"I am your eldest, closest surviving next-of-kin. I am therefore responsible for your education and well-being until you reach the age of majority."

The news was surprising to Nunnally. She had not thought of herself as having a legal guardian since the Britannian invasion of Japan. And for that guardian to be Schneizel of all people was… just plain distasteful, considering he'd left her to die on the Damocles.

Quite naturally, she didn't want to live anywhere near him. "Oh. Well…. I suppose…. I think I would like to stay in Japan. I know that. All my friends are here."

"I thought as much," Schneizel replied. "Ashford and I discussed it, and the remainder of your schooling here was paid for by an anonymous donor."

"How fortunate," said Nunnally.

At that moment, a very perturbed-looking Cornelia approached. Recalling Cornelia's kindness of passing her a tissue box earlier that day, Kallen inquired, "May I get you something to drink…" Kallen picked the first form of address that came to mind "…Cornelia-sama?"

Cornelia looked a little surprised but nodded. Apparently, she was too bothered to insist on anything more formal. "Vodka martini. It's vodka with a bit of dry vermouth and lemon. Thank you."

That Kallen had addressed Cornelia by name and him not at all was not lost on Schneizel. Apparently, his comment about his place in the world had offended Kallen's sensibilities as a formerly oppressed person. He had not failed to notice Nunnally's inexplicably strained politeness toward him, either. So far as he knew, he had always behaved kindly in her presence, which made her reaction to him a mystery. Nevertheless, Schneizel had outstayed his welcome with them both.

Kallen returned with Cornelia's drink.

"It has been a most pleasant conversation, but I regret that I should pay my respects and get back to work. Good evening, Captain, Sisters." Schneizel hastily went to the bar to refill his cognac and headed for the casket.

"I wonder what got into him," said Nunnally.

"Maybe the cognac is very good?" Kallen speculated.

"The world's gone mad," said Cornelia.

* * * * *

Schneizel stared into the casket. Only his white-knuckled free hand grasping the edge of the box betrayed the emotions beneath the surface.

He swirled the cognac in the glass and lifted it in a salute to his fallen brother. He chuckled. "Checkmate on me. You win, Little Brother."

Schneizel neatly drank away all the contents of the snifter. The drink uncomfortably warmed his throat, chest and stomach. Gloomily, Schneizel added, "Now, whom will I have to play with?"


	10. Postmortem: Blind Spots

Author's Note [October 2009]: My profile said for the past couple months that I was taking a break from _Habeus Corpus_, but now I am briefly taking a break from taking a break.

I had begun working on a giant map as part of my notes for _Requiem's Wake_, but it has been unfeasible to draw on the kitchen floor with lumbago – especially since the floor has to be cleaned every time I work on the map. CrazyNinjaPenguin and TheDudeJDCT have been beta-reading drafts for _Requiem's Wake_ all summer. Thank you both very much. I will get back to working on that story when I've mended.

Special thanks to Tomas the Betrayer for his humorous description of an ethos, which I have used herein.

* * * * *

The knock at the door heralded the arrival of General Tohdoh and UFN Secretary General Ohgi. Miss Sayoko bowed respectfully when she met them at the door. "Welcome, General Tohdoh, Secretary Ohgi."

The men reciprocated the bow. The corner of Ohgi's lips tensed slightly. He had never been particularly comfortable with being referred to as a higher up.

General Tohdoh replied first. "Thank you, Shinozaki-san. We are sorry for being late, but there was business that could not wait."

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Shinozaki-san," Ohgi remembered to chime in.

Miss Sayoko smiled knowingly. "Of course. No need to apologize. Your responsibilities have just dramatically increased. Naturally, you must prepare all you can for tomorrow."

Ohgi looked away to the side uncomfortably. Actually, he and General Tohdoh had been delayed by phoning in reassurances of their safety to Villetta and Nagisa. Very important, but not what he thought Miss Sayoko had probably meant.

Ohgi took in the peculiar sight around him. The soft background music and the bounty of the bar and the snack spread suggested a party atmosphere.

At a small dinner table sat the former viceroys, Nunnally vi Britannia and Cornelia li Britannia, and Kallen. The younger former princess appeared to be deep in thought, and the elder former princess was staring moodily at the tablecloth just behind her martini. Only Kallen looked lively as she seemed happy to see him. Smiling, Kallen waved at Ohgi, and he waved back.

In the middle of the room, there was a casket and the former Crown Prince stood beside it, his back turned to the door, his head bowed and an empty snifter in his hand.

Even as a funeral, the gathering felt like a total fail.

Miss Sayoko's voice faded back into Ohgi's awareness. "…respects to Miss Nunnally at the table and to her brother at the casket. If you have any musical preference, please let me know, and I will try to accommodate as best as I can."

General Tohdoh nodded. "Thank you, Shinozaki-san. That is most hospitable of you. I regret that I must make my visit brief. If you will please excuse me, I have a few words for the deceased and for his sister. Ohgi-san, it seems Captain Kouzuki is wanting a word with you."

She was already approaching with a couple of beers.

* * * * *

"Goodbye, Little Brother." Schneizel turned from the casket and found the approaching General Tohdoh.

There was a brief pause as the titans of history regarded each other.

The general spoke first. "Good evening, Prime Minister."

"Good evening, General." The deposed royal made to swirl his cognac, but the lack of momentum in his glass reminded him that it was empty. Apparently, he had overindulged and become forgetful. The general suppressed a smirk at the prince's uncharacteristic miscalculation.

Instead of commenting, General Todoh took an envelope out of his pocket. He looked questioningly at Scheizel who, with an inviting wave of his hand, stepped aside.

General Tohdoh approached the casket. He looked down at the Demon Emperor who appeared deceptively peaceful in death. More likely, his journey to the next life was already long and perilous as he would be meeting his supposed kin along the way. No doubt he could outsmart them on his own, but a little wisdom and insurance never hurt anybody. "Light reading for the trip," he told the departed youth before placing the envelope inside.

"How like the Vikings," Schneizel murmured at the gifting from some distance away. He must have begun to leave but stopped to observe.

The general scowled at the former prince. Schneizel smiled hopelessly and said, "Perhaps as we all linger beside his body, he is terrorizing the inhabitants of Valhalla."

The ex-prince headed for the door, snifter still in hand. The next morning, Miss Sayoko would have to hunt him down to retrieve it.

General Tohdoh returned his attention to the corpse.

* * * * *

"Oi. You look like you could use one of these." Kallen foisted a chilly, sweating beer at Ohgi.

"Thank you, Karen." Ohgi gratefully accepted the cold drink, took a gulp and let out a sigh of relief.

"That bad, huh?"

"No, it tastes wonderful."

"I was referring to the meetings. It looks like I missed a lot."

"You disappeared."

Kallen shrugged. "I was catching up with Nunnally."

"Catching up?"

"We became friends during my imprisonment."

"Ah, she must have appreciated your company today."

"Yes," Kallen agreed. She added, "as I appreciated her's then."

Ohgi noticed Sayoko joining Cornelia and Nunnally. The girl was smiling again. She was more mercurial in person than on television, thought Ohgi. How did her sight come back?

"Something's bothering you," Kallen noted.

Ohgi shook his head. Everything this day had been overwhelmingly weird. "Nothing makes sense. Schneizel being our ally again. General Tohdoh going along with it. Zero alive and Lelouch dead…."

He stopped at Kallen's saddened and (guilty?) expression.

"Sorry. I shouldn't trouble you with my worry when you must be feeling terrible." He bowed his head shamefully, his gaze settling on the rim of the beer bottle. As the elder, he should have been strong, comforting and reassuring. Instead, he had unburdened his thoughts and dropped them on Kallen.

"Ohgi, I'm…."

"It's alright. I mean, he was your classmate, and you were his…." There was to be no more talk of Lelouch's time as Zero.

Kallen frowned, nibbled her bottom lip in agitation. The tears welled up in her eyes again. "Sorry." She wiped the tears away with her hand. They just kept coming. "I thought I was done," she muttered in embarrassment.

So much for consolation. Ohgi frantically checked his pockets for a handkerchief. There was none. He dashed to the coffee table, grabbed some tissues and handed them to Kallen.

"Thanks." She sniffed.

Internally, Ohgi cursed his clumsiness at having made Kallen cry. (What would Naoto think?) He could give her a hug, but that would probably prompt even more crying. (And what would Villetta think?) Nevertheless, he hated to see her upset. So instead of letting Kallen weep, Ohgi changed the subject – by saying the most outrageous thing that he could come up with: "They made me Prime Minister of Japan."

Kallen choked mid-snuffle. "Huh?"

A little sheepishly, he repeated, "They made me Prime Minister of Japan."

"No way!"

"Er actually, yes. For now, anyway. We announce it tomorrow. I find it surprising myself."

"Did Zero…?"

"Well… General Tohdoh and Schneizel helped. Something about 'the need for an authentic populist voice.'"

Or a puppet? Kallen was suddenly too perplexed to weep. Maybe, some of Lelouch's suspicious nature had rubbed off on her, but fortunately, maybe his discretion had as well. Rather than suggest that her friend was about to be used, she exclaimed (perhaps a touch too enthusiastically,) "Congratulations! That's incredible."

Ohgi agreed. "You think so? I can hardly believe it either."

"Nervous?"

Tomorrow's prime minister shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I'll just have to try my best."

Kallen lifted her beer bottle. "Here's to you and a great term."

Ohgi tapped his bottle to her's. "Thank you, Karen."

They drank their beers, and both of them felt better.

* * * * *

"I wasn't expecting to see them here," Nunnally commented on the two men talking to Miss Sayoko.

In reply, Cornelia only savored the burning of the vodka in her mouth. After the resurrection of Zero, the assassination of Lelouch, the evasion by Sayoko and the flight of Schneizel, the last thing she wanted to do was mental gymnastics regarding why the Japanese leadership might pay respects to their betrayer, oppressor and almost executioner. Best to chalk it up to some "bushido thing" and be done with it.

In the topsy-turvy world, there was only one mystery left that was remotely simple because the person to whom it pertained was the most honest and forthright person in the room, possibly the planet. Reaching for the last straws of sanity, Cornelia asked this person a question because if somebody, anybody, could give Cornelia a straight answer about some part of the chaos, she could still have hope. "Sister, how did you regain your sight?"

Nunnally turned and looked Cornelia in the eyes. The girl searched the face of her elder sister, tried to figure out the meaning in the movement of her facial muscles. The girl could determine nothing, except for the stillness of Cornelia's bated breath.

Nunnally frowned, reached over to Cornelia, gently removed her hand from the martini glass and held it. The girl smiled slightly as she looked at her sister's hand, traced the calluses with her fingers and matched the visual to the tactile. Nunnally returned her gaze to Cornelia's face. "I opened my eyes."

"Why? How?"

"I wanted to see _everything_."

Cornelia's inscrutable expression turned to one more easily recognizable as disappointment. Nunnally elaborated in response, "Everybody knew there was nothing wrong with my eyes. I saw nothing only because that was what I wanted, a harmless blank where I could imagine just the pretty things.

'But meanwhile, the ugliness around me grew. Lelouch, Father, Schneizel…. They all lied to me because they could, because I wasn't going to look and see if they were telling me the truth.

'Finally, when Brother and I met aboard the Damocles, I had had enough. Since then, I have been unable to stop looking."

"I'm sorry," said Cornelia.

"I'm not, not anymore," replied Nunnally. "But Sister, where were you after—"

Sayoko returned to the table with more coffee for Nunnally, and a glass of water for Cornelia.

"Thank you, Sayoko," said Nunnally.

"Thank you," murmured Cornelia. She sniffed her glass, discreetly she hoped. There was no scent. She took a sip.

"Looks like I missed something important, whatever it was," said Sayoko.

"It was nothing really," Nunnally replied. "I was just telling Cornelia how I opened my eyes."

Sayoko tilted her head slightly and raised an eyebrow.

"Sometimes, you just have to want something badly enough to make it happen," the girl added.

"Ah. You are quite right, Miss Nunnally."

The urge to decry their optimism as naïve bull-crap (in more ladylike terms, of course) sorely tempted Cornelia, but nonsense seemed to be the order of the day. She was only one person, and the spirit of the dawning age overwhelmed her.

Having finished her water, Cornelia also drank away the rest of her martini. If the era was to be absurd, then she would be absurd as well. Small talk was the occupation of peacetime in the past, right?

Putting on her best "friendly" smile (which really only made her look like she was about to devour something,) Cornelia asked in a cheery (no, manic) voice, "Miss Sayoko, you and Mr. Gottwald seem to be on unusually good terms, despite recent events. Do you like him or something?"

Caught off guard for once, the color rose ever so slightly in the ninja maid's cheeks. It was rare that anybody asked a servant about her feelings, even if she was an unusually skilled servant. Nunnally suppressed a giggle. Sayoko noticed, shrugged and chuckled. "Perhaps, I do. He visited me on a few occasions during my imprisonment. The times between were like an eternity."

"Hmm…. I wonder what Lelouch thought," Cornelia mused. "He can't have approved of his guard and a prisoner getting too close."

"Oh, don't be silly, Cornelia," Nunnally scolded. "Love conquers all."

"Well, Mr. Gottwald must have been extraordinarily clever to have found ways to drop in without attracting suspicion," Cornelia hypothesized.

"I feel rather spoiled now that you put it that way," said Sayoko.

Cornelia grinned. Maybe, she was getting the hang of frivolity. "There must be some amazing story about how you two met and became acquainted, two people so unlikely to ever be so much as friends. It's nothing short of a miracle, a Purist and a Japanese."

Nunnally nearly snorted her coffee, and Sayoko paled.

"What?" Cornelia inquired. Wasn't asking how people met a normal part of polite conversation?

Sayoko dug her fingernails into the tablecloth. "Former Purist," she corrected.

Before Cornelia could apologize for her apparent faux pas, Nunnally noticed General Tohdoh's arrival at their table. "Ah, good evening. General Tohdoh, right?"

"Yes." He bowed politely. "Good evening to you, too, Miss vi Britannia."

"Please, I prefer to simply be called 'Nunnally' or if you insist, 'Miss Nunnally.' I no longer have any title or position, and we're not at the most formal event in the world."

"Well, 'Miss Nunnally,' it is nevertheless elegant, especially given the time constraint." He added, "You must have worked very hard, Shinozaki-san."

Sayoko forced a little smile. "Thank you, General. This is actually one of the smaller gatherings that I have arranged."

The general returned his attention to Nunnally. So, she was the one whom the Black Knights had risked their lives to abduct. She was the one whose misreported death had driven Zero mad.

Yet, he could not resent her. Despite all the misery wrought on her behalf, Lelouch had betrayed her, too. Died for her, too.

She only looks delicate and innocuous, the soldier realized. Surely, her fragile appearance and unassuming manner masked an overwhelming burden of frustration and rage. Nobody liked to be deceived, made powerless or used, but the child had suffered all three fates many times over at the hands of her family. If she ever had innocence, it was most certainly quite dead now.

"I am sorry for your loss," said General Tohdoh.

"Thank you. Your sentiment is much appreciated," said Nunnally, "but he was a demon."

"A demon with the conviction of iron," he reminded her.

She smiled wistfully. "You make it sound like he was so strong."

"Even the strongest steel someday rusts. Stone inevitably breaks or melts. Every tyrant sees his end coming."

"He did have the most peculiar peaceful look then," she remarked. "I will have to keep that in mind. Thank you, General Tohdoh."

"It was nothing," he replied. "Now then, if you will please excuse me, I should take my leave."

Sayoko asked, "Would you like to take something with you, General Tohdoh? A sponge cake perhaps? It will only take a moment to box one up."

General Tohdoh very briefly considered refusing, but the corpse in his peripheral vision reminded him of an important fact. "You're too kind, Shinozaki-san. I haven't had a sponge cake in the last eight years."


End file.
